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November Auction 2015 13 November 2015
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SICILY, SILVER 5 SHEKELS OF THE CARTHAGINIANS, ca. 260 BC, 37.923g, 11h. Boston 506 (same dies). Jenkins -. Very rare. Nicely toned. Perfectly centered and struck on a broad flan. A magnificent specimen of this desirable issue. Undoubtedly one of the finest known. Choice extremely fine. Privately acquired from Tradart
To finance the war against Rome, Carthage made electrum coins at Carthage and silver coins in Sicily. The Sicilian origin suggests an explanation for the Pegasus reverse type. The winged horse has no place in Punic iconography but could have been inspired by Corinthian staters circulating in Sicily, or by Syracusan coins imitating Corinthian types. For this coin, the Carthaginians abandoned the Attic weight standard they had earlier taken from the coinage of Syracuse, and used their native shekel as the basic weight unit.
To finance the war against Rome, Carthage made electrum coins at Carthage and silver coins in Sicily. The Sicilian origin suggests an explanation for the Pegasus reverse type. The winged horse has no place in Punic iconography but could have been inspired by Corinthian staters circulating in Sicily, or by Syracusan coins imitating Corinthian types. For this coin, the Carthaginians abandoned the Attic weight standard they had earlier taken from the coinage of Syracuse, and used their native shekel as the basic weight unit.