The company Godot et Fils has recently acquired an antique Carthaginian coin which we should look at today. It is a third of a gold statere.

This coin shows on its obverse side the head of Nikè [A] on the left, on its reverse side a galloping horse on the right. As for its characteristics, it weighs 3.39 grams for a diameter of 15 millimeters. This coin is based on the classic types of Carthage coinage, but with some modifications.

It is interesting to note that the coin we are studying does not represent Tanit (the principal goddess of Carthage) on its obverse, but Nikè, the goddess personifying victory. Why this choice of representation?

It is not insignificant, since this use of the goddess on coins indicates Carthage's desire to expand and its thirst for victory.

It is a way to attract the benefits and protection of war.

Greek numismatics is not stingy with portraits of Athena, we meet her very frequently on silver coins, of Athens of course, but also on many coins of all these cities.

The horse, standing galloping has the same meaning as the horse's head found on contemporary Carthaginian coins. The latter refers to the legendary foundation of Carthage, according to which a horse's head was discovered in the ground interpreted as an omen of Juno (the equivalent of Tanit), the queen of the gods, protector of marriage and fertility.

The historical context is that of the Punic Wars, a series of confrontations that opposed Rome to Carthage, an ancient city in present-day Tunisia between 264 and 149 BC. The initial cause of these conflicts is the clash of two powers for the control of Sicily.

At the end of the first Punic war, Rome inflicted a heavy defeat on the Carthaginians and humiliated its adversary by imposing significant territorial losses and a heavy tribute to pay.

Carthage did not intend to leave it there and turned to the conquest of Spain which aimed to provide it with wealth and warriors. It is in this context that the second Punic war intervenes. The coinage we are interested in today was probably minted[1] during this historical episode between 218 and 202 BC[2] in the Iberian Peninsula. 

This coin was minted for military purposes to finance the Carthaginian war in Spain. In general, it should be remembered that a large number of coins were created to pay the wages of the troops[3].

Like the Carthaginian coins, this coinage is characterized by the absence of inscriptions, known in numismatics as the anepigraphic obverse or reverse.

This peculiarity as well as the uniformity of this type of coinage makes it difficult to distinguish clearly the elements of this coinage in any point of view (chronological in particular). One thing is sure, it is that the Carthaginian style is clearly distinguished from a Greek style. However, despite its typically Greek appearance[4], it is a characteristic production of "Hispano-Punic" coinage.

Under this learned name, hides a complex historical reality [5], which has been defined only recently by researchers: to facilitate regional trade, the Punic colonies of Sicily first, then Carthage itself, have minted money taking as models [6] the productions of their Greek neighbors [7].

[A] Goddess personifying victory, often equated with Athena

[1] Kahrstedt U. The Carthaginians in Spain. In: Bulletin Hispanique, volume 16, n°3, 1914. pp. 373

[2] Kahrstedt U. The Carthaginians in Spain. In: Bulletin Hispanique, volume 16, n°3, 1914. pp. 372-381

[3] Heinen Heinz. François DE CALLATAY, L 'histoire des guerres mithridatiques vue par les monnaies. In : L'antiquité classique, Tome 72, 2003. pp. 517-518.

[4] https://saintraymond.toulouse.fr/Monnaie-de-Carthage_a307.html 

[5] G.K JENKINS, Monnaies Grecques, L'Univers des monnaies, Office du Livre, Fribourg, 1972, p.281

[6] NIETO-PELLETIER Sylvia, " Imitate, innovate. L'adoption de la monnaie d'or frappée en Gaule celtique, IIIe siècle avant notre ère ", Dialogues d'histoire ancienne, 2020/Supplement20 (S 20), p. 55-79. DOI: 10.3917/dha. hs20.0055. URL: https://www.cairn.info/revue-dialogues-d-histoire-ancienne-2020-Supplement20-page-55.htm

[7] G.K JENKINS, Monnaies Grecques, L'Univers des monnaies, Office du Livre, Fribourg,1972, p.272