Help with a Carthaginian AE Shekel from Second Punic War

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by TuckHard, Dec 6, 2019.

  1. TuckHard

    TuckHard Well-Known Member

    Hello! I was hoping to get some help with one of my oldest (in terms of age and when I got it) ancient coins in my collection.
    Untitled.jpg

    I don't have a scale or measure right now but I believe it was around 7.2g and I'd guess 20+mm.

    I bought this five years ago when I was a new collector, in fact it was one of two ancients I bought at a coin show that started my ancient collection. The seller let it go for $10 and told me it was from the Second Punic War. I've been told that the reverse may be a horse head which would indicate it was from a time outside the Second Punic War but the more I look at examples the more I think it's a women's head. I have yet to find an exact match where the horse is standing right looking back with the odd "ghost legs" and the tree (?) or pole to the right of the horse. The closest I've found is SNG Cop 376 which is the example below.
    2259869.jpg
    I've found some mentions online that the SNG Cop 376 may have been produced by a travelling mint in Italy or perhaps by Italian moneymakers who sided with the Carthaginians in the war. Does anyone have any good information or sources for this?
     
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  3. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    Yes, the obverse is the head of Tanit left. The first picture needs to be turned ~90 degrees counterclockwise:

    CT-TuckHard-PunicObv.jpg

    The horse is the reverse.

    CT-TuckHard-PunicShekel.jpg

    Here's a good place to look for an overview of the types:

    http://www.magnagraecia.nl/coins/

    On the home page, click on Zeugitana on the map to get to the page of Carthaginian coins.
     
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  4. TuckHard

    TuckHard Well-Known Member

    Thank you so much for the outline and reference website! Using it I found this which I believe is a perfect match! It even has the identical "ghost legs" I was seeing.
    Capture.PNG
    CT-TuckHard-PunicShekel.jpg
     
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