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Tetradrachm - Hannibal Barca
| Issuer | Qart Hadasht |
|---|---|
| Year | 220 BC |
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| Currency | Drachm |
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| Obverse description | Laureate, bearded male head facing left, rendered with strongly Semitic features traditionally identified as Herakles-Melqart, though the physiognomy has long been associated by scholars with a portrait of Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal. A heavy, knotted club is visible over the far shoulder, serving as the deity's emblematic attribute. The modeling is bold and deeply struck, characteristic of the finest Hispano-Punic die-cutting of the late third century BC. The portrait conveys a powerful, individualized quality that distinguishes it from purely idealized Hellenistic representations of the hero-god. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Struck at the Carthaginian mint in Iberia during Hannibal's preparations for the Italian campaign, this issue is among the last significant silver coinages produced before the army crossed the Ebro in 218 BC — the act that formally opened the Second Punic War. The Iberian mints under Barcid control were prolific precisely because paying a mercenary force of Libyans, Iberians, Numidians, and Gauls required an unrelenting supply of coined silver.
CNH 13 and ACIP 553 place this type firmly within the mature Barcid series, distinguishable from earlier issues by subtle die-axis and stylistic consistencies that have allowed scholars to sequence production across the final years of Hasdrubal's and then Hannibal's command in Hispania.