Catalog
Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Uncertain Siculo-Punic mint (Punic Sicily) |
|---|---|
| Year | 410 BC - 390 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Tetradrachm (4) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Forepart of a horse to the left occupies the central field, rendered with fine detail in the Greek artistic tradition. Above the horse, Nike flies to the left, extending a wreath to crown the horse. A barley corn appears in the left field as an auxiliary symbol. Below the horse's neck, two incense-burners (thymiatheria) are depicted interspersed within the Phoenician legend. The composition reflects the strong Hellenistic artistic influence absorbed by Punic engravers of the period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Phoenician |
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| Additional information |
The Siculo-Punic coinage of this period emerged directly from Carthage's renewed military campaigns in Sicily, launched in 410 BC under Hannibal Mago in retaliation for the Syracusan sack of Selinus and Himera decades earlier. Carthage had no established silver coinage tradition of its own — these tetradrachms were struck specifically to pay mercenary troops operating far from North Africa, drawing heavily on Syracusan weight standards and artistic conventions because that was the currency the soldiers expected and trusted.
The issuing mint remains unattributed with confidence. Panormus, Motya, and a mobile military mint have all been proposed.