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Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Uncertain Punic mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 345 BC - 315 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Head of Persephone (or Tanit) facing right, rendered in fine Syracusan-influenced style, with elaborately dressed wavy hair adorned with a wreath of grain or leaves. The figure wears a pendant earring with triple drop and a beaded necklace, visible at the lower neck. The portrait is set within a dotted border and displays the graceful, idealized features characteristic of late 4th-century BC Sicilian die engraving. No legend is present in the field. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Punic silver tetradrachms of this period were produced to pay mercenary armies — Carthage relied almost entirely on hired soldiers and needed portable, high-value coinage that Greek and Sicilian troops would accept without question. The closest Attic-weight issues served that function directly, circulating in a war economy rather than a civic one. Mint attribution remains contested; candidates include workshops in Sicily operating under Carthaginian control during the decades of intense conflict with Syracuse following the Sicilian Expedition.
The SNG Copenhagen and Boston MFA specimens are among the anchoring references for this uncertain series precisely because so few hoards have resolved the question of a single mint versus multiple coordinated workshops.