https://www.bbc.com/future/article/...egates-the-shipwrecks-rewriting-roman-history I don't have any coins relating to the First Punic War; I just thought this was a really cool, funly multidisciplinary article. Given the number and erudition of people here who collect in the period, I was sure someone had posted this already. But the best I could find was one pic from @GinoLR, in @hotwheelsearl's thread about joining the US Navy: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/im-leaving-for-a-while.392192/#post-8176527 (Godspeed, @hotwheelsearl.) You're cordially invited to post anything I can't, whether about coins, the historical context, or anything else of relevance to the period.
That is very interesting, I wonder how that helmet will look after cleaning….I love Hannibal but that is Punic War 2… this would be maybe Hannibals father, Hamilcar Barca…..Also led to Battle of Cannae, biggest loss of life at that time. 50,000 Romans, soldiers and senators….dead… Amazing thing is no one knows exact spot of battle….
Very awesome article, with some incredible artifacts. In college and grad school I fancied myself an Indiana Jones archaeologist, and dreamed of digging up some treasures, whether in the desert or in the ocean. Best I could do was to do some satellite archaeology from afar, discover a heretofore unknown Buddhist monastery in northeast China, but that was the extent of things. My university offered a really valuable grad program called CAEM - conservation of archaeological and ethnographic materials. I wish I had pursued that path, as there is much more work, more satisfying and possibly more exciting in the conservation field rather than the swashbuckling field.
Sounds like it was a brilliant graduate program, @hotwheelsearl. ...The one thing I regret more than my own concentration was the institution where I tried to pursue it! Sounds like you did better, regardless. ...Ongoing best of luck with your career path.
Pretty sure most of my coins come from the end of the first Punic war...jk. I LOVE the big papa typeearly RRs. Nearest I can get with any certainty would be: ROMAN REPUBLIC. Anonymous. AE Aes Grave Triens (47mm, 92.37 gms), Rome Mint, ca. 225-217 B.C. VERY FINE. Cr-35/3a; TV-53. Obverse: Helmeted head of Minerva left; four pellets (mark of value) below; all set upon raised disk; Reverse: Prow right; four pellets (mark of value) below; all set upon raised disk. A pleasing specimen despite its crudeness, with charming green surfaces. A test cut across Minerva's face is noted for completeness. During this time: The Antigonid dynasty was strong, repelling invaders and a safe bet... for another generation or two: Antigonos II Gonatas - Demetrios II Aitolikos, 277/6-239 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 31 mm, 16.78 g, 5 h), Amphipolis, circa 246/5-229. Horned head of Pan to left, wearing goat's skin around his neck and with lagobolon behind; all within the center of a Macedonian shield adorned with stars and crescents. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIΓONOΥ Athena Alkidemos striding to left, hurling thunderbolt with her upraised right hand and holding shield with her left; in field to left, Macedonian helmet with transverse crest; in field to right, monogram of HΛ. Panagopoulou Period III, Group 10, 52 (011/R - but similar to R50). SNG Ashmolean 3258. Well centered. Purchased from Herakles Numismatics May 2021 There was still a "good" Ptolemy in the Pharoas: Ptolemy III Euergetes 246-222 BC. Æ Tetrobol (40mm, 46.3 g, 12h). Alexandreia mint. Series 4. Struck 246-230 BC. Diademed head of Zeus-Ammon right / Eagle with closed wings standing left on thunderbolt, head right, with filleted cornucopia over shoulder; Λ between legs. Svoronos 1166 (Ptolemy IV); Weiser 87-8 (Ptolemy IV); SNG Copenhagen 220-1 (Ptolemy IV); Noeske –. VF, reddish-brown surfaces. Purchased from RDA Jan 2022 To the east: Seleukos II Kallinikos Seleukid Kingdom. 246-226 B.C. AE 15 (15.43 mm, 3.55 g, 11 h). mint of Sardes. Head of Hercules right wearing lion-skin headdress, paws tied at neck, countermark of either Gorgon or Seleukid anchor / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ, legend vertically downward to right and left of naked Apollo Delphios seated left on omphalos, holding arrow and grounded bow; monogram in outer left and Σ in outer right field. . SNG Spaer pl. 29, 443-4; HGC 9, 344.
Great article. Becoming an archaeologist was my dream as well for quite a few years beginning when I was 9 or so.
Most of the helmets found on this battlefield are what archaeologists call "Montefiorino-type helmets", after Gallic helmets found in 3rd c. BC tombs at Montefiorino in North Italy. They are considered typical of the Gauls who lived at the time in North Italy, then called by the Romans "Cisalpine Gaul". These Gallic pieces of armour were adopted by the Romans who used the same kind of helmets for their own warriors. But we also know that Carthaginians hired many Gallic mercenaries for their own military. Thus we cannot know to which side, Roman or Carthaginian, these Montefiorino-type helmets found underwater at the Aegates site belonged. The crests of these helmets can be mere globes, or a small lion (like the one illustrated in the article), or a griffin. The griffin helmet is of particular interest because it is the typical crest-ornament of Roma's helmet on coins from the 3rd c. BC. Here is a pic of an helmet from the Aegates battle site, a Roman didrachm of the 1st Punic War (Roma wearing a Phrygian helmet topped by a griffin's head) and a Roman denarius of the 2nd Punic War (not my coins, just for illustration). All the helmets found at the Aegates site are of Montefiorino-type, except only one which is different and has been labeled "Punic helmet". Another historic puzzle is the kind of galleys the bronze rams found at the Aegates belonged to. According to Polybius who left a detailed account of the battle, both sides mostly used quinqueremes also called "Fives", galleys thought to be a bit larger than the classical triremes. But all the rams found at the Aegates site are rather small, when compared with other rams found elsewhere. Here is a pic of the Athlit ram (Haifa museum) found off the coast of Israel, and a pic of one of the Aegates rams. On both photos, the guy gives the scale. It seems that all sunken galleys, Roman as well as Punic, discovered so far at the Aegates site, were relatively small units. Another historical problem is the nationality of the rams: most seem to be Roman, only two have Punic inscriptions. Some have made the hypothesis that Roman rams could have belonged to galleys previously seized by the Carthaginians, and fighting on the Carthaginian side in 241 BC. Why not? Polybius says that the Roman fleet fighting in 241 had just been built thanks to a forced loan from the wealthiest families, but there are different colleges of Roman quaestors or magistrates mentioned on the rams: the sunken Roman galleys did not belong to the same shipbuilding program, some were older than others... Let's add the pottery found, which seems to be from South Italy much more than from North Africa... To sum it up, helmets, rams and even pottery found so far at this site suggest, at first sight, that it was the Romans who suffered heavier losses there, losing many small galleys. This does not correspond to Polybius' account. It is possible that the explored sector has been the site of a side-action of this battle.
Terrific expansion of the initial article, @GinoLR. ...I'm saying 'initial' because your post effectively counts as another one.
I went to UCLA, but university quality is in my opinion less important than how you take advantage of any opportunities... I spent all this time on a degree that I'll probably never use, except when cleaning ancient coins. Ha
Very interesting article @+VGO.DVCKS, and thanks @GinoLR for the expansion! Here's a Carthaginian Dishekel to commemorate to period: Carthage, First Punic War, Circa 264-241 BC, BI Dishekel, Carthage mint Obv: Wreathed head of Tanit left; linear border Rev: Horse standing right; palm tree in background
Great topic @+VGO.DVCKS and excellent post @GinoLR Very nice coin @Sulla80 - please see my earlier post about this coin type: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/my-first-punic-coin.386965/#post-7916195 Carthage produce several new types during the First Punic War. In general, coins with high gold and silver content were produced in the first decade with more debased coins during the second half. This is from my article that used to be on John Jencek's site: "Carthage began to produce silver coinage based on the shekel (7.6 grams) around the time of the start of the First Punic War. During the second decade of the First Punic War, Carthage reverted to coinage that was more “Carthaginian” in style, probably since Carthage became the primary mint. An electrum tridrachm and a silver trishekel were struck that had the head of Tanit on the obverse and a horse standing with a solar disk above its back. Silver dishekels and shekels had a horse standing with head turned back on the reverse. Another type of dishekel used a reverse with a horse standing with a star above. The silver content of these later coins was debased as the war turned against Carthage." Here is an early shekel of high silver content: Carthage 264-255 BC AR shekel 7.4 gm O; head Tanit left R: horse standing right with head turned back left, palm tree behind SNG Cop 140 Much less common than the subsequent type with a star on the reverse. Later debased silver coins: Carthage 255-241 BC AR trishekel 22.7 gm O; head Tanit left R: horse standing right, sun disk above J&L plate 27,4 Rare. Carthage 255-241 BC AR dishekel 15.1 gm O; head Tanit left R: horse standing right, head turned back SNG Cop 186 These were often overstruck during the Libyan Revolt.
Those are fantastsic, @Silphium Addict. And Yes, I finally had to at least Wiki Silphium. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silphium_(antiquity) Sustained chuckling ensues.
