This denomination was struck during the Second Punic War, the period when Carthage committed its greatest military and financial resources to Hannibal's Italian campaign. Bronze coinage of this weight class circulated primarily in North Africa and the western Mediterranean territories still under Carthaginian control — Spain, Sardinia, and Sicily were slipping away precisely as these coins were being produced. The mint was working under existential pressure.
The Müller SBZ attribution places this among issues linked to the Zeugitana mint in the Carthaginian heartland, as distinct from the Spanish military coinages struck to pay Hannibal's troops directly.
This denomination was struck during the Second Punic War, the period when Carthage committed its greatest military and financial resources to Hannibal's Italian campaign. Bronze coinage of this weight class circulated primarily in North Africa and the western Mediterranean territories still under Carthaginian control — Spain, Sardinia, and Sicily were slipping away precisely as these coins were being produced. The mint was working under existential pressure.
The Müller SBZ attribution places this among issues linked to the Zeugitana mint in the Carthaginian heartland, as distinct from the Spanish military coinages struck to pay Hannibal's troops directly.