The Wonderful World of Ancient Coin Collecting
Coinage of the Roman Empire


Obverse
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Coin Details

  

Set Details
Coin Description:
Grade: NGC XF Strike: 3/5 Surface: 4/5
Grade Comment: strike flaws
Owner: RAM-VT
 
Set Category: Ancients
Set Name: The Wonderful World of Ancient Coin Collecting
Slot Name: Coinage of the Roman Empire
Research: Currently not available

Owner's Description

The City State of Carthage during the second Punic War 218-201 BC AE21; SNG Copenhagen 307 Grade: XF; Strike 4/5: Surface 3/5 Census - NGC does not provide census info on ancient coins :>( Obv.: Wreathed head of Tanit left Rev.: Horse standing right, head reverted Regarding the strike, the minting process evidently involved more than one blow and between the first and second blow there must have been a slight rotation of the die or planchet resulting in some doubling of the horse’s features and it may have also caused changes in the obverse design.. Tanit was a Phoenician lunar goddess, worshiped as the patron goddess at Carthage where from the fifth century BC onwards her name is associated with that of Baal Hammon and she is given the epithet pene baal ("face of Baal") and the title rabat, the female form of rab (chief). Tanit and Baal Hammon were worshiped in Punic contexts in the Western Mediterranean, from Malta to Gades into Hellenistic times. Carthage is today a suburb of Tunis, Tunisia, with a population of 20,715 (2004 census), and was the center of the Carthaginian Empire in antiquity. The city has existed for nearly 3,000 years, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC into the capital of an ancient empire. The first civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic (a form of the word "Phoenician") or Carthaginian. The city of Carthage is located on the eastern side of Lake Tunis across from the centre of Tunis. According to Greek historians it was founded by Canaanite-speaking Phoenician colonists from Tyre (in modern Lebanon) under the leadership of Elissa who was renamed (Queen Dido) in Virgil's Aeneid. It became a large and rich city and thus a major power in the Mediterranean. The resulting rivalry with Syracuse, Numidia, and Rome was accompanied by several wars with respective invasions of each other's homeland. The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War, (by the Romans) The War Against Hannibal, or "The Carthaginian War", lasted from 218 to 201 BC] and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the crucial participation of Numidian-Berber armies and tribes on both sides. The two states had three major conflicts against each other over the course of their existence. They are called the "Punic Wars" because Rome's name for Carthaginians was Punici, due to their Phoenician ancestry. The war is marked by Hannibal's surprising overland journey and his costly crossing of the Alps, followed by his reinforcement by Gaulish allies and crushing victories over Roman armies in the battle of the Trebia and the giant ambush at Trasimene. Against his skill on the battlefield the Romans deployed the Fabian strategy. But because of the increasing unpopularity of this approach, the Romans resorted to a further major field battle. The result was the Roman defeat at Cannae. In consequence many Roman allies went over to Carthage, prolonging the war in Italy for over a decade, during which more Roman armies were destroyed on the battlefield. Despite these setbacks, the Roman forces were more capable in siegecraft than the Carthaginians and recaptured all the major cities that had joined the enemy, as well as defeating a Carthaginian attempt to reinforce Hannibal at the battle of the Metaurus. In the meantime in Iberia, which served as the main source of manpower for the Carthaginian army, a second Roman expedition under Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major took New Carthage by assault and ended Carthaginian rule over Iberia in the battle of Ilipa. The final showdown was the battle of Zama in Africa between Scipio Africanus and Hannibal, resulting in the latter's defeat and the imposition of harsh peace conditions on Carthage, which ceased to be a major power and became a Roman client-state. A sideshow of this war was the indecisive first Macedonian War in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Ionian Sea. All battles mentioned in the introduction are ranked among the most costly traditional battles of human history; in addition there were a few successful ambushes of armies that also ended in their annihilation. My Cost $83

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