A big one from the wish list: Siculo-Punic tetradrachm

SICILY, Entella. Punic issues
c. 300-289 BCE; AR tetradrachm, 24 mm, 16.8 gm, 12h)
Obv: head of Melquart-Herakles right, wearing lion skin
Rev: head of horse left; astragalos (cut over poppy) to left, palm tree to right, Punic MHSBM (approximate meaning is "quaestors" or financial controllers) below
Ref: Jenkins, Punic 366 (O115/R298), series 5b
Ex Gorny & Mosch 138 (7 March 2005), lot 33

This and other Punic tetradrachms have been on my wish list since I saw my first examples. It's hard to say why this type became such a must-have since I didn't know much about the circumstances of the coin. Actually, I guess it's not hard to say why: it's a beautiful coin. Sometimes that's reason enough .

I assumed there would be extensive and colorful history to go with this coin, but that seems not to be the case. After winning the coin I began searching for interesting tidbits for a writeup. A first step for such things is always to check auction catalogs, especially old and higher-end catalogs which sometimes have nice blurbs that add interest. I checked all of my catalogs and online catalogs; checked various general and Greek numismatic books in my growing library. Zip, zilch, nada. No amusing anecdotes, no tantalizing tie-ins with history. Hmm.

But... Digital Library Numis to the rescue! All four parts of "Coins of Punic Sicily" are there, yay!!

Some of my questions are answered in those articles:

• Hoard evidence is what places these coins at Entella, which was under the control of Carthage at that time. The Punic Wars were still three or four decades away but there were ongoing problems with Agathokles. Perhaps these coins were used to pay troops and other costs of battle.
• The two main variations of this coin ("quaestors" issues and "people of the camp" issues) were probably issued concurrently and from the same location, although the reasons are cloudy. It might indicate that there was more than just army encampments there-- the Carthaginian state was doing more than just paying the army.
• The head of Tanit/horse head tetradrachms immediately preceded these coins. While this new obverse undoubtedly copies Alexander III tetradrachms, Punic Melqart had already been assimilated into Greek Herakles so the Carthaginians weren't abandoning their Punic iconography... they were just making coins that blended in better with the region. Alex III tets had already become extremely well known throughout the Mediterranean.
• I mistakenly thought there were hundreds of dies for the entire emission, since the Entella tetadrachms I was drawn to all had high die numbers. However, the die numbers for the series begin at 86 for the obverse and 227 for the reverse (earlier numbers are for earlier Punic coins in Jenkins' scheme). The "quaestors" tets have only 21 obverse and 81 reverse dies; the "people of the camp" tets have 20 obverse and 39 reverse dies. That makes more sense, because it's not like you see these on every numismatic corner

Anyway, this minutia is probably pretty boring to most of you. If it isn't, you might want to read the Jenkins articles.

More importantly to me is that this was struck with one of my favorite dies for the series. I don't always have to have highly artistic coins in relatively high grade (have you seen all of my grungy but beloved coins of Roman Egypt? ), but for this one I held out. I studied archives and made note of my favorite dies. For the obverse, die 115 was in the top tier and reverse die 298 is interesting because it was recut. I was happy to see this coin at auction.

Speaking of the reverse die, it began life with a poppy in the left field but was later recut into an astragalos (knuckle bone; a gaming and/or fortune telling device).

Here's the a coin struck with the same reverse die as mine, before recutting. That's a poppy in the left field. Note that the obverse die is also the same as my coin.


(from CNG's archives)


...


Artistic dies, good centering, good metal, good strike, little wear... happy sigh

Please feel free to add you Punic coins or related issues. Coins of Agathokles from around the same time are also welcome.

 

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I had to pop my eyes back into their sockets, and roll my tongue back into my mouth.



Holy cow @TIF , talk about drop dead gorgeous coins. That would be a #1 coin of the year for 98% of us here, but knowing you it would be lucky if it made it into your top 10.

What a winner! To use a baseball reference, you hit a grand slam home run.

 

Great new coin, TIF. These are beautiful and yours is a really nice example.

 

Very loverly coin. I approve of your choice of dies. The refief on this coin must be outstanding.

You guys (and gals) are making my abstinence from European ancients VERY HARD right now...

 

Well, you really hit it out of the park there! That truly is a flat-out majestic coin. Also, astragalos > poppy!

 

Y'know, when I first saw this reverse I thought it was a pomegranate.

It's an astragapoppigranate.

 

Fantastic coin TIF!

 

Awesome coin, really like the relief. I've seen them pop up here and there but the price is always a bit too much for me.

 

WOW what a beautiful coin, in perfect condition, doesn't matter about no tidbits the coin speaks for itself. Congrats TIF, on a fantastic buy.

 

Oooow, sweeet => man, that's a total winner, Coin-Princess (congrats)

 

@TIF, I love the writeup and it is definitely a fabulous coin. I can't show anything remotely like it (but wish I could!).

 

That is a really outstanding specimen, well done!

I have the more curvy horse's neck style:

 

Absolutely beautiful @TIF

 

HOT

the little recut device is really cool! so why did they do that? wear to the die (or a break) was making it look crappy...kind of like fixing a regrettable tattoo?

 

The curvy-necked horses carry the "People of the Camp" legend (Jenkins 5a). Do you know the die numbers of your coin? I've got the Jenkins part 4 document open on my desktop and I can try to match your coin, if you'd like.

 

Phenomenal coin! And I loved every last bit of your minutia.

 

Breathtaking! And an interesting write up, too!

 

If you can find it, I would appreciate it.

John

 

I tried a short while ago but there was several possibilities and my eyes are now fatigued. I think it's possible to match it up though, so I'll continue when my eyes are fresh

 

Wonderful coin @TIF

Both obverse and reverse are superb.