★ A Selection of Punic Issues from Entella ★

SICILY, Entella. Punic issues. Circa 345/38-320/15 BC. AR Tetradrachm (22.5mm, 17.21 g, 1h). Head of Kore left, wearing wreath of grain ears, triple-pendant earring, and linear necklace; Punic mem behind neck / Horse walking left; palm tree in background. Jenkins, Punic, Series 2a, 64 (O17/R58); CNP 208c; HGC 2, 268; SNG Ashmolean 2156 (same obv. die); Gulbenkian 369 = Bement 581 (same dies). Attractively toned. EF. Rare.

From the Matthew Curtis Collection. Ex Leu 79 (31 October 2000), lot 453; Kirk Davis 33 (January 2001), no. 30.

Founded by the Trojans in the 500s BC, Entella was conquered by Campanian mercenaries in about 410 BC, who quickly sold their services to the Carthaginians. The city remained a Punic stronghold through most of the fourth century. The coinage of Entella was mainly intended to pay mercenary soldiers who were used to Sicilian Greek coinage. Designs were usually based on the ubiquitous issues of Syracuse (obverse), but with reverses displaying their Carthaginian allegiance (the palm tree, phonix in Greek, is a canting pun on the term Phoenician). Horses also feature prominently, referring to the outstanding cavalry of the Carthaginians and their Campanian allies.