Trihemishekel

These coins were struck during one of Carthage's most dangerous internal crises — the Mercenary War of 241–238 BC, when unpaid soldiers who had fought Rome in the First Punic War turned on their employers. The Carthaginian treasury was under extraordinary pressure to meet payroll demands that had already sparked open revolt, and silver coinage of this period was likely produced in part to satisfy troop payments in a desperately unstable fiscal environment.

The denomination itself — three half-shekels — reflects the Semitic weight standard Carthage maintained throughout its coinage, distinct from the Greek and Roman systems operating simultaneously across the Mediterranean.