Gemini, LLC
Auction X 13 January 2013
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Sicily. Siculo-Punic. c. 320-300 BC. Tetradrachm, 17.11g. (1h). Obv: Head of Tanit right, dolphins around. Rx: S'MMHNT (People of the Camp) Horse's head right, date palm behind. Jenkins, SNR 56 (1977), p. 51, 176 (10 specimens cited). Choice EF.
The horse's head on the reverse was so brilliant that it even attracted the Romans who made it the model for the first Roman issue of didrachms. In Rome, it might have been interpreted as the October horse, a special religious sacrifice, while at Carthage the horse was part of the omen sanctioning the foundation of the city.
The horse's head on the reverse was so brilliant that it even attracted the Romans who made it the model for the first Roman issue of didrachms. In Rome, it might have been interpreted as the October horse, a special religious sacrifice, while at Carthage the horse was part of the omen sanctioning the foundation of the city.