Coins of Carthage

The most important role in the economy of Carthage was played by cross-border trade ^[2] . Large-scale trading activities should have forced the Carthaginians to mint a coin, but they started this rather late, several centuries later than the Greeks. Barter was a proven way of concluding transactions in the Ancient World before the advent of coins, and it was especially convenient for trading in remote regions where banknotes either did not circulate at all or were already issued, but did not enjoy the trust of other states and peoples. In the end, however, the convenience of transporting fixed-weight bullion from precious and semiprecious metals prompted the Carthaginians to move away from direct commodity exchange, and from here only one step remained to minting their own coins ^[3] .

The first Punic coins were minted not in the capital of the Carthaginian state, but in Sicily in the middle or end of the 5th century BC. e. This cannot be an accident: on the island, the eastern part of which was controlled by the Greeks, there were rich traditions of coinage, and the interpenetration of the economies of Carthage and Greek cities was great. The correlation with the Attic weight system and the borrowing of symbols from the coins of Greek cities leaves no doubt about this. The earliest issue of silver and bronze coins began in Motia and Palermo ^[4] , with the obverse of the first coins from Motia depicting the head of the gorgon Medusa , and the reverse - a palm, φοῖνιξ in ancient Greek , which is consonant with the word " Phoenicians ", that is, "Carthaginians ". Other coins depict symbols of various Greek policies of Sicily: Akraganta , Syracuse , Gimera . However, outside Sicily, these coins were not circulated ^[1] . The foundation of the Carthaginian mints, most likely, was caused, as in ancient Greece, by the need to pay hired troops . During the fighting it was difficult for the soldiers to use heavy metal ingots or a large amount of goods, such as grain or other food products. It is entirely possible that the beginning of coin minting by the Carthaginians was directly related to the campaigns in Western Sicily from 409-405 BC. e. ^[3]

In Carthage itself, the issue of coins began in the middle of the 4th century BC. e. Silver coins appear around the 3rd century BC. e., even before the development of Spanish mines . The minting of a gold coin was a state monopoly, while silver and bronze could be issued by some subordinate cities (for example, Hades ) and even sometimes by generals, as the Barkids did in Spain and Italy ^[5] . After the Second Punic War , low-grade and much less perfect coins were put into circulation, which some researchers attribute to the onset of the decline of the Carthaginian state ^[4] .

The first Carthaginian (Sicilian) coins were made of silver or bronze and repeated the Greek tetradrachm and the denominations based on it, the most famous of which minted Athens . They were made according to the technology typical of that time: a hammer blow on a metal disk placed between two stamps . The Carthaginian silver tetradrachm weighed about 17 g. From the IV century BC. e. coins minted from electrum , as well as a stater of pure gold, equal to 20 drachmas, go into circulation. By the end of this century, drachma was abandoned in favor of a new coin - a silver shekel weighing 9.4 g, which soon dropped to 7.6 g ^[4] . Coins were issued in shares of the shekel for small purchases and coins of two, three or even six (about 44 g) shekels for larger expenses. When Carthage in the III century BC. e. conquered the southern part of Spain and gained control of the rich silver mines, local mints were immediately founded there. Another important minting site was Sardinia , especially during the First Punic War , when Carthaginian possessions in Sicily were threatened. When the struggle with Rome began to take shape not in favor of the Carthaginians, their silver coins began to include less and less silver ^[6] .

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  Shekel (stater) from electrum. Zevgitan , circa 310-290 BC e.
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  Silver dichekel. Carthage Spain , circa 237–227 BC e.
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  3/8 shekels from electrum.Gross
  about 216-211 BC e.
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  Silver coin. Tarent ,
  about 212–209 BC e.

Coins in the Ancient World were an important means of transmitting political and cultural messages, representing the images of rulers or deities and heroes. Carthage was no exception, and its coins depict such important figures as Dido - the legendary founder of the Carthaginian state, Melkart , Tanit , Astarte and (much less often) Isis , as well as the great generals Hamilcar Barka and Hannibal . Other popular objects for the image were the bow of the ship , palm tree, horse ( protoma or the whole figure), a lion and a fighting elephant . Sometimes a legend was applied to the coins along with the image, which allows you to identify the place of minting, for example, Sousse (the Punic name Palermo) and Carthadasht (Carthage), as well as words indicating their purpose: mhnt ( army ), ' m mhnt (“people of the army "), Mhsbm (treasurers) and b'rst (" in the territories ", for example, in Sicily and in Spain) ^[7] .

Thus, the Carthaginian coins represent an eclectic combination of Greek patterns and Carthage’s own artistic tradition and illustrate the ability of the Carthaginians to accept, adapt and develop the achievements of other civilizations ^[8] . The fact that coins were very popular in the Mediterranean and contributed to the prosperity of Carthage is evidenced by archaeological finds not only in Spain , Sicily and mainland Italy , but also in such remote places as the Balkans , Great Britain ^[9] and even the Azores ( treasure with Corvo ) ^[7] .

• In 2011, the Royal Mint of Spain issued a circulation of 10,000 copies of a commemorative silver coin in denominations of 10 euros , dedicated to the Carthaginian silver coin in denominations of 1 ½ shekels. The reverse completely repeats the image on the Carthaginian original (elephant figure), and on the obverse the original image of Hannibal in the image of Hercules is supplemented with the inscriptions "10 EURO", "ESPAÑA 2011" and the emblem of the mint ^[10] .
• A number of coins of Tunisia - a state located on the site of the central part of the Carthaginian possessions - carry images of a punic style: for example, on 1 dinar of 1969 a ship with the sign of Tanit on a sail is depicted, on 1 dinar of 1988 - Dido, on 2 dinars of 2013 - an ancient port in the capital of the Carthaginian state.

• Carthage Mint

• Dridi, Edie. Carthage and the Punic World = Carthage et Le Monde Punique. - M .: Veche, 2008 .-- 400 p. - (Guides of civilizations). - 3000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-9533-3781-6 .
• Tsirkin Yu. B. Carthage and its culture . - M .: Nauka, 1986 .-- 287 p. - (Culture of the peoples of the East). - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-9989-0882-8 .

• Cartwright, Mark. Carthaginian Coinage Ancient History Encyclopedia (September 22, 2016). Date of appeal September 30, 2018.
• Markowitz, Mike. The Coinage of Carthage: An Introduction . Academia.edu . Date of appeal September 30, 2018.