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Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Ziz |
|---|---|
| Year | 400 BC - 390 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | A quadriga driven at full gallop to the left, guided by a charioteer shown in profile; Nike flies right above the scene, extending a wreath to crown the driver. A clamshell device appears to the right of the ethnic inscription in the exergue. The composition reflects the strong Sicilian Greek artistic influence prevalent on Siculo-Punic coinage of this period, closely emulating the celebrated chariot types of Syracuse. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | A female head in right profile, identified as a local nymph, with hair restrained by a broad diadem-like band. She wears a simple necklace adorned with a single pendant. Four dolphins swim to the right encircling the head in the field, a motif characteristic of the Sicilian and Siculo-Punic nymph types derived from the coinage of Syracuse. The engraving displays refined Hellenistic craftsmanship typical of late fifth- to early fourth-century Sicilian die-cutters. |
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| Additional information |
Ziz — the Punic name for what the Greeks called Panormos, modern Palermo — issued these tetradrachms during a period of intense Carthaginian military expansion across Sicily. The coins emerge directly from the aftermath of the 409–405 BC campaigns in which Carthaginian forces under Hannibal Mago and Himilco destroyed Selinus, Himera, and Akragas in succession. Ziz, as a loyal Phoenician settlement, found itself suddenly positioned as an administrative and commercial hub for Carthaginian-controlled western Sicily, and the need for a local silver coinage of this weight standard followed directly from that shift in regional power.
Jenkins' die study remains the essential reference for sequencing this series.