Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3044 3-4 January 2016
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ZEUGITANA. Carthage. Time of Hannibal (221-201 BC). AR half-shekel (21mm, 3.50 gm, 11h). Second Punic War issue. Carthage or uncertain mint in Sicily, ca. 213-210 BC. Laureate male head left (Melqart, Hannibal or Mago?) / African elephant advancing right; in exergue, aleph in exergue. A. Burnett, SNR 62 (1983), 116-31. E. S. G. Robinson, "Punic Coins of Spain and their Bearing on the Roman Republican Series,"Essays Mattingly series 8b, pl. III (Gades). SNG Copenhagen 383. Scarce. Small obverse striking flaw. Lightly toned. NGC Choice AU 4/5 - 5/5. This coin is a famous type featuring an elephant, the animal used by the great general Hannibal Barca to bring the Second Punic War over the Alps and into Rome's backyard, and a mysterious and quite distinctive laureate head. The head has been variously described in the literature as a depiction of Melqart, a Semitic deity closely related to Heracles, or Hannibal in the guise of the god, or possibly his brother Mago. Modern scholarship, which tends to be suspicious of early claims to see portraits in images of gods, interprets the head as that of Melqart. However, the distinct physiognomy of the nose and other facial features, as well as the sideburns, suggest an attempt at true portraiture. In such a case it is difficult to avoid the possibility that Hannibal is actually depicted here - remarkable considering that no other portraits of the great Carthaginian general survive from his lifetime.
Estimate: 6000-8000 USD
ZEUGITANA. Carthage. Time of Hannibal (221-201 BC). AR half-shekel (21mm, 3.50 gm, 11h). Second Punic War issue. Carthage or uncertain mint in Sicily, ca. 213-210 BC. Laureate male head left (Melqart, Hannibal or Mago?) / African elephant advancing right; in exergue, aleph in exergue. A. Burnett, SNR 62 (1983), 116-31. E. S. G. Robinson, "Punic Coins of Spain and their Bearing on the Roman Republican Series,"Essays Mattingly series 8b, pl. III (Gades). SNG Copenhagen 383. Scarce. Small obverse striking flaw. Lightly toned. NGC Choice AU 4/5 - 5/5. This coin is a famous type featuring an elephant, the animal used by the great general Hannibal Barca to bring the Second Punic War over the Alps and into Rome's backyard, and a mysterious and quite distinctive laureate head. The head has been variously described in the literature as a depiction of Melqart, a Semitic deity closely related to Heracles, or Hannibal in the guise of the god, or possibly his brother Mago. Modern scholarship, which tends to be suspicious of early claims to see portraits in images of gods, interprets the head as that of Melqart. However, the distinct physiognomy of the nose and other facial features, as well as the sideburns, suggest an attempt at true portraiture. In such a case it is difficult to avoid the possibility that Hannibal is actually depicted here - remarkable considering that no other portraits of the great Carthaginian general survive from his lifetime.
Estimate: 6000-8000 USD