CNG 100, Lot: 37. Estimate $2000. Sold for $3250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CARTHAGE, Third Punic War. Circa 149-146 BC. Serrate AV Two-fifths Shekel (14mm, 3.04 g, 12h). Head of Tanit left, wearing wreath of grain ears, single-pendant earring, and necklace / Horse standing right, with far foreleg raised; pellet above. Jenkins & Lewis Group XVIII, 505; MAA 97d; SNG Copenhagen 402. Good VF, struck from worn dies. Very rare.

From the collection of Dr. Lawrence A. Adams, purchased from Classical Numismatic Group, March 1992.

By the time of the Third Punic War, Carthage had limited precious metal resources at its disposal. H.R. Baldus (“Ein 146 v. Chr. verbrannter Geldbörseninhalt aus Karthago,” Chiron 33 [2003], pp. 195-201) has argued that this serrate gold issue was struck from the melted jewelry contributed by the women of Carthage during the summer of 149 BC after the Roman siege of the city had begun, an event noted by Diordoros (32.9).