Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3037 Sess. 2-4 5 January 2015
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ZEUGITANIA. Carthage. Time of Hannibal Barca (ca. 221-201 BC). AR shekel (23mm, 6.64 gm, 12h). Second Punic War issue. Carthage or uncertain mint in Sicily, ca. 213-210 BC. Male head left, with long sideburn (Hannibal as Heracles-Melqart?) / Elephant advancing right; in exergue, Punic letter aleph. Burnett 114-5. Visonà 55. Robinson series 8a, pl. III (Gades). SNG Copenhagen 382. Extremely rare - only two specimens in the Enna hoard, and one of only a small handful in existence. Small die-break on cheek and minor lamination flaws. NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 3/5, Fine Style, overstruck.From The California Collection. Ex Mayflower Collection (Heritage 3020, Long Beach, 6 September 2012, lot 24874. Ex Superior (10-11 December 1993), lot 1647.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 Herakles-Melqart, a Semitic deity inherited by the Carthaginians from their Tyrian mother city, or Hannibal in the guise of the god. Modern scholarship, which tends to be suspicious of early claims to see portraits in images of gods, interprets the head as that of Herakles-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: 5000-7000 USD
ZEUGITANIA. Carthage. Time of Hannibal Barca (ca. 221-201 BC). AR shekel (23mm, 6.64 gm, 12h). Second Punic War issue. Carthage or uncertain mint in Sicily, ca. 213-210 BC. Male head left, with long sideburn (Hannibal as Heracles-Melqart?) / Elephant advancing right; in exergue, Punic letter aleph. Burnett 114-5. Visonà 55. Robinson series 8a, pl. III (Gades). SNG Copenhagen 382. Extremely rare - only two specimens in the Enna hoard, and one of only a small handful in existence. Small die-break on cheek and minor lamination flaws. NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 3/5, Fine Style, overstruck.From The California Collection. Ex Mayflower Collection (Heritage 3020, Long Beach, 6 September 2012, lot 24874. Ex Superior (10-11 December 1993), lot 1647.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 Herakles-Melqart, a Semitic deity inherited by the Carthaginians from their Tyrian mother city, or Hannibal in the guise of the god. Modern scholarship, which tends to be suspicious of early claims to see portraits in images of gods, interprets the head as that of Herakles-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: 5000-7000 USD