Carthaginian shekel

Carthaginian or Punic currency refers to the coins of ancient Carthage, a Phoenician city-state located near present-day Tunis, Tunisia.

The base currency was the shekel, although its Punic pronunciation was probably /səˈḳel/.

The Phoenicians, despite their extensive trading empires, began minting coins relatively late. Siculo-Carthaginian currency began to be issued in the mid-4th century and probably preceded Phoenicia's own Tyrian shekels, which developed c. 300 BC. Carthage was also the first known state to utilize lightweight, flexible promissory notes.

Carthage issued ½-shekel,shekel (7.20 g), 1⅔-shekel, double shekel, and triple shekel coins. 5-shekel pieces were issued in Sicily. It used gold, silver, electrum, bronze, and billon for its coins but did not make great use of them in North Africa. Instead, many of the surviving caches come from Carthage's holdings on Sardinia and Sicily. On Sardinia, a substantial amount of bronze coinage was struck during the First Punic War and again during the attempt to recover the island amid the Second. A large mass of bronze and silver coins and smaller issues in gold and electrum were struck on Sicily under administrators described as MHSBM. The Siculo-Carthaginian issues of the First Punic War include one series featuring Melqart ("Hercules") obverse and a horse's head reverse. More commonly, Carthaginian currency featured a female head identified as the goddess Tanit. One issue of bronze coins in two denominations—Tanit the god of sun on the obverse and a galloping horse reverse—was coined at Kerkouane on Cape Bon during the resistance to the invasion of Regulus amid the First Punic War. A great deal of highly debased coins were struck at the end of the First Punic War, however, to deal with the empire's revolting mercenaries.

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