Punic Coinage at Entella

Triton XX, Lot: 40. Estimate $5000. Sold for $10000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Entella. Punic issues. Circa 407-398 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 17.12 g, 1h). Forepart of horse advancing right; above, Nike flying right, crowning horse with wreath held in both hand; to left, head of lion right; barley grain to right, QRTḤDŠT (“Carthage” in Punic) below / Palm tree with two date clusters. Jenkins, Punic 16 (O4/R16); CNP 647 (this coin referenced); HGC 2, 259; Triton III, lot 336 = R. Ratto (4 April 1927), lot 445 (same rev. die); NAC 25, lot 126 (same dies). Near EF, lightly toned, flat strike on trunk of tree. Very rare variety with lion head on obverse.

From the JMG Collection. Ex Manhattan Sale III (3 January 2012), lot 92; Leu 72 (12 May 1998), lot 125.

In the final decade of the fifth century BC, the Carthaginians launched a series of invasions of Sicily, conquering much of the western half of the island and bringing devastation to many formerly flourishing Greek communities. The Punic presence lasted for a century and a half, until Rome's victory in the First Punic War obliged the Carthaginians to withdraw. During their time of occupation, the Carthaginians struck an extensive coinage in Sicily for the purpose of financing their military operations and the maintenance of garrisons. The obverse and reverse types of the series are mostly influenced by Sicilian prototypes, particularly those of Syracuse, except for the later series with the head of Herakles on the obverse, which was obviously influenced by the well-recognized coinage of Alexander the Great. While a few of the series are struck at cities with established mints, such as Motya and Panormos, these are often viewed as minor or campaign mints that operated for a short duration. The location of the primary Punic mint (or mints) on Sicily, responsible for the large issues studied by G.K. Jenkins (‘Carthage’ series I-V), has been the subject of great debate. Most recently, I. Lee surveyed the existing literature and took a fresh look at the full spectrum of evidence, persuasively concluding that this mint was located at Entella (“Entella: The Silver Coinage of the Campanian Mercenaries and the First Carthaginian Mint 410-409 BC” in NC 160 [2000], pp. 1-66).