SICILY, Tanit Punic Mint ANCIENT CARTHAGE SILVER TETRADRACHM 320-310 BC. 15,1 gr

  
LOW STARTING PRICE, IN SPIRIT OF GOOD OLD AUCTIONS AND COMPETITION!! SICILY, TANIT Punic Mint ANCIENT CARTHAGE SILVER AR TETRADRACHM 320-310 BC.

GREEK COINS SICILY Uncertain Punic mint on Sicily, possibly Entella. Head of'Dido- Tanit' to left, with long, exuberantly curled hair, wearing a Phrygian cap encircled with a plain diadem tied above her forehead. S'MMHNT (People of the Camp, in Punic) Lion walking to left, his head turned out to his left, and three-quarters facing; behind, a palm tree with three clusters of dates; inscription in the exergue. While certainly designed to serve as pay for mercenaries during Carthage's wars with Agathokles of Syracuse, the artistic quality of this coin's types mark it out as a significant exception to the usual run of Siculo-Punic tetradrachms struck by the Carthaginians.

All of those are based on existing Sicilian types: this head of a goddess that appears on this obverse is a completely new type. She is traditionally termed Dido, the mythical queen of Carthage so familiar from the Aeneid, or Tanit, the city's main goddess; but the Phrygian bonnet has led others to identify her as a syncretistic combination of Kybele or Artemis-Astarte, derived from Carthage's origins in Phoenicia. Yet whoever she is, she is certainly domiciled in North Africa: while the lion might be Kybele's, and the palm tree could be from many places, combined with the goddess's curling hair, we simply have to see her as a true Carthaginian. VERY NICE LIGHT TONED PATINA. I Combined maximum 5 large item in one letter! Please look at the pictures and read shop policies before purchasing. Most of my items are vintage and as such may have flaws. Sometimes what I deem unimportant may be important to you. If I miss something, it is not intentional. I will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

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