PUNIC AND GREEK BRONZE COINS FROM

Punic and Greek Bronze Coins from Carthage Author(s): Paolo Visonà Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 89, No. 4 (Oct., 1985), pp. 671-675 Published by: Archaeological Institute of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/504208 Accessed: 14/01/2010 02:19 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=aia. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Archaeological Institute of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to American Journal of Archaeology. http://www.jstor.org ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES of fallen soldiers rather than the bodies of returned exiles. And if it was cut in 591 as a tribute to the fallen of 573, it becomes evidence of Byzantine sentiment at a critical juncture in the difficult relations between the two great powers. OLIVER NICHOLSON HAWTHORNDEN CASTLE LASSWADE, MIDLOTHIAN SCOTLAND PUNIC AND GREEK BRONZE COINS FROM CARTHAGE* (P1. 78, figs. 1-5) Since the beginning of the "Campagne Internationale de Sauvegarde de Carthage" in 1972, the numismatic record of Punic Carthage has come into sharper focus. Although relatively few Punic coins, mostly bronze, from of fallen soldiers rather than the bodies of returned exiles. And if it was cut in 591 as a tribute to the fallen of 573, it becomes evidence of Byzantine sentiment at a critical juncture in the difficult relations between the two great powers. OLIVER NICHOLSON HAWTHORNDEN CASTLE LASSWADE, MIDLOTHIAN SCOTLAND PUNIC AND GREEK BRONZE COINS FROM CARTHAGE* (P1. 78, figs. 1-5) Since the beginning of the "Campagne Internationale de Sauvegarde de Carthage" in 1972, the numismatic record of Punic Carthage has come into sharper focus. Although relatively few Punic coins, mostly bronze, from * I wish to thank T.V. Buttrey, J.H. Humphrey and W.E. Met- calf for reading an earlier version of this note, and for their editorial comments. The following abbreviations are used: BMCCyr E.S.G. Robinson, Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Cyrenaica in the British Museum (London 1927). Campo M. Campo, Las monedas de Ebusus (Barcelona 1976). Gabrici E. Gabrici, La monetazione del bronzo nella Si- cilia antica (Palermo 1927). SNG Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. SNGCop G.K. Jenkins ed., SNG. The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Danish National Museum 42. North Africa, Syrtica-Mauretania (Co- penhagen 1969). SNGCop Sicily SNG. The Royal Collection of Coins and Med- als, Danish National Museum 5. Sicily 2 (Copenhagen 1942). SNGCop Spain G.K. Jenkins and A. Kromann eds., SNG. The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Dan- ish National Museum 43. Spain-Gaul (Co- penhagen 1979). See T.V. Buttrey, "The Coins," in J.H. Humphrey ed., Exca- vations at Carthage 1975 conducted by the University of Michigan 1 (Tunis 1976) 167, nos. 5-7; T.V. Buttrey and R.B. Hitchner, "The Coins 1976," in J.H. Humphrey ed., Excavations at Car- thage ... 4 (Ann Arbor 1978) 106, nos. 4-12; W.E. Metcalf and R.B. Hitchner, "The Coins-1977," in J.H. Humphrey ed., Exca- vations at Carthage ... 5 (New Delhi 1981) 190, nos. 1-5; W.E. Metcalf, "The Coins-1978," in J.H. Humphrey ed., Excavations at Carthage ... 7 (Ann Arbor 1982) 68, nos. 3-6. 2 M. Kozakiewicz and A. Krzyzanowska, in A. Iciek, A. Jago- dziiski, J. Kolendo and J. Przenioslo, Carthage. Cirque-Colline dite de Junon-Douar Chott. Recherches archeologiques et geophy- siques polonaises effectuees en 1972 (Wroclaw 1974) 64, 66. 3 S. Lancel, "Le secteur A (1974-1975)," in Mission archeolo- American Journal of Archaeology 89 (1985) * I wish to thank T.V. Buttrey, J.H. Humphrey and W.E. Met- calf for reading an earlier version of this note, and for their editorial comments. The following abbreviations are used: BMCCyr E.S.G. Robinson, Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Cyrenaica in the British Museum (London 1927). Campo M. Campo, Las monedas de Ebusus (Barcelona 1976). Gabrici E. Gabrici, La monetazione del bronzo nella Si- cilia antica (Palermo 1927). SNG Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. SNGCop G.K. Jenkins ed., SNG. The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Danish National Museum 42. North Africa, Syrtica-Mauretania (Co- penhagen 1969). SNGCop Sicily SNG. The Royal Collection of Coins and Med- als, Danish National Museum 5. Sicily 2 (Copenhagen 1942). SNGCop Spain G.K. Jenkins and A. Kromann eds., SNG. The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Dan- ish National Museum 43. Spain-Gaul (Co- penhagen 1979). See T.V. Buttrey, "The Coins," in J.H. Humphrey ed., Exca- vations at Carthage 1975 conducted by the University of Michigan 1 (Tunis 1976) 167, nos. 5-7; T.V. Buttrey and R.B. Hitchner, "The Coins 1976," in J.H. Humphrey ed., Excavations at Car- thage ... 4 (Ann Arbor 1978) 106, nos. 4-12; W.E. Metcalf and R.B. Hitchner, "The Coins-1977," in J.H. Humphrey ed., Exca- vations at Carthage ... 5 (New Delhi 1981) 190, nos. 1-5; W.E. Metcalf, "The Coins-1978," in J.H. Humphrey ed., Excavations at Carthage ... 7 (Ann Arbor 1982) 68, nos. 3-6. 2 M. Kozakiewicz and A. Krzyzanowska, in A. Iciek, A. Jago- dziiski, J. Kolendo and J. Przenioslo, Carthage. Cirque-Colline dite de Junon-Douar Chott. Recherches archeologiques et geophy- siques polonaises effectuees en 1972 (Wroclaw 1974) 64, 66. 3 S. Lancel, "Le secteur A (1974-1975)," in Mission archeolo- American Journal of Archaeology 89 (1985) the new international campaign have been fully pub- lished, significant data have already been provided by T.V. Buttrey, R.B. Hitchner and W.E. Metcalf in re- ports on the coins found by the second American team (University of Michigan).1 Punic specimens have also been reported by the Polish,2 French (directed by S. Lan- cel),3 Danish,4 French Canadian5 and British teams.6 In the light of this evidence, some preliminary conclu- sions can now be drawn. A tabulation of the Punic bronze coins from the University of Michigan excava- tions in 1975-19827 and the French excavations in 1974-19768 indicates that some of the earliest issues, such as SNGCop 94-98, 102-106 and 109-19, circu- lated at Carthage (pl. 78, figs. 1-5), and suggests that the SNGCop 94-98 coins were probably the most numerous among them (see Table A, p. 672). The impressions given by this admittedly small body of material are con- firmed by a survey of unpublished Punic specimens from the excavations of the first American (University of Chi- cago),9 German10 and Italian teams.11 On the whole, it is clear that the SNGCop 94-98 issues comprise the largest group of all the Punic bronze coins found at Carthage by the international campaign. gique francaise a Carthage Byrsa 1. Rapports preliminaires des fouilles (1974-1976) (Rome 1979) 68-70, 77, 81, 84; S. Lancel and J.-P. Thuillier, "Rapport preliminaire sur la campagne de 1976 (niveaux puniques)," Mission 239, 247, 250. 4 A. Kromann Balling, in J. Lund, A. Kromann Balling, T.C. Bro and S. Trolle, "Decouvertes d'objets en ceramique et de pieces de monnaie," in S. Dietz and S. Trolle, Premier rapport prelimi- naire sur lesfouilles danoises a Carthage. Les campagnes de 1975 et 1977 (Copenhagen 1979) 53-55. 5 L. Guimond, "Les monnaies des campagnes 1976 et 1978," in P. Senay et al., "Carthage III," Cahiers des Etudes Anciennes 10 (1979) 27; L. Guimond, "Monnaies des campagnes 1978 et 1979," in P. Senay et al., "Carthage V," Cahiers des Etudes Anciennes 13 (1981)57. 6 R. Reece, "Coins," in H.R. Hurst and S.P. Roskams, Excava- tions at Carthage: the British Mission 1.1. The Avenue du President Habib Bourguiba, Salammbo: The Site and Finds other than Pot- tery (Sheffield 1984) 180. 7 I am grateful to J.H. Humphrey and W.E. Metcalf for unpub- lished information on the Punic coins found in the 1979 and 1982 seasons, which consist of 1 SNGCop 94, 1 SNGCop 97, 1 SNGCop 109-19, 1 SNGCop 261 (billon) and 1 SNGCop 302-13. 8 G.K. Jenkins has generously allowed me to consult a manu- script by P. Gandolphe in which unpublished Punic bronze coins from the French excavations in 1974 (Byrsa, secteurs A and B) are listed. These specimens are 2 SNGCop 94-97, 3 SNGCop 109-19, 2 SNGCop 120-23, 1 SNGCop 222, 1 SNGCop 275 and 1 SNGCop 409-13. 9 J.W. Betlyon has kindly provided me with information on the Punic bronze specimens found by the Semitic Museum/Oriental Institute excavations in 1975-1979. 10 I wish to thank H.R. Baldus for allowing me to examine the Punic bronze coins from the German excavations of 1974-1982, and his own notes on them, which he is preparing for publication. For a discussion of some of these coin finds, see H.R. Baldus, Deutscher Numismatikertag Muinchen 1981 (Munich 1983) 15. 1 Data on the Punic bronze coins found in the Italian excava- tions in 1976 were obtained through G.K. Jenkins' assistance. the new international campaign have been fully pub- lished, significant data have already been provided by T.V. Buttrey, R.B. Hitchner and W.E. Metcalf in re- ports on the coins found by the second American team (University of Michigan).1 Punic specimens have also been reported by the Polish,2 French (directed by S. Lan- cel),3 Danish,4 French Canadian5 and British teams.6 In the light of this evidence, some preliminary conclu- sions can now be drawn. A tabulation of the Punic bronze coins from the University of Michigan excava- tions in 1975-19827 and the French excavations in 1974-19768 indicates that some of the earliest issues, such as SNGCop 94-98, 102-106 and 109-19, circu- lated at Carthage (pl. 78, figs. 1-5), and suggests that the SNGCop 94-98 coins were probably the most numerous among them (see Table A, p. 672). The impressions given by this admittedly small body of material are con- firmed by a survey of unpublished Punic specimens from the excavations of the first American (University of Chi- cago),9 German10 and Italian teams.11 On the whole, it is clear that the SNGCop 94-98 issues comprise the largest group of all the Punic bronze coins found at Carthage by the international campaign. gique francaise a Carthage Byrsa 1. Rapports preliminaires des fouilles (1974-1976) (Rome 1979) 68-70, 77, 81, 84; S. Lancel and J.-P. Thuillier, "Rapport preliminaire sur la campagne de 1976 (niveaux puniques)," Mission 239, 247, 250. 4 A. Kromann Balling, in J. Lund, A. Kromann Balling, T.C. Bro and S. Trolle, "Decouvertes d'objets en ceramique et de pieces de monnaie," in S. Dietz and S. Trolle, Premier rapport prelimi- naire sur lesfouilles danoises a Carthage. Les campagnes de 1975 et 1977 (Copenhagen 1979) 53-55. 5 L. Guimond, "Les monnaies des campagnes 1976 et 1978," in P. Senay et al., "Carthage III," Cahiers des Etudes Anciennes 10 (1979) 27; L. Guimond, "Monnaies des campagnes 1978 et 1979," in P. Senay et al., "Carthage V," Cahiers des Etudes Anciennes 13 (1981)57. 6 R. Reece, "Coins," in H.R. Hurst and S.P. Roskams, Excava- tions at Carthage: the British Mission 1.1. The Avenue du President Habib Bourguiba, Salammbo: The Site and Finds other than Pot- tery (Sheffield 1984) 180. 7 I am grateful to J.H. Humphrey and W.E. Metcalf for unpub- lished information on the Punic coins found in the 1979 and 1982 seasons, which consist of 1 SNGCop 94, 1 SNGCop 97, 1 SNGCop 109-19, 1 SNGCop 261 (billon) and 1 SNGCop 302-13. 8 G.K. Jenkins has generously allowed me to consult a manu- script by P. Gandolphe in which unpublished Punic bronze coins from the French excavations in 1974 (Byrsa, secteurs A and B) are listed. These specimens are 2 SNGCop 94-97, 3 SNGCop 109-19, 2 SNGCop 120-23, 1 SNGCop 222, 1 SNGCop 275 and 1 SNGCop 409-13. 9 J.W. Betlyon has kindly provided me with information on the Punic bronze specimens found by the Semitic Museum/Oriental Institute excavations in 1975-1979. 10 I wish to thank H.R. Baldus for allowing me to examine the Punic bronze coins from the German excavations of 1974-1982, and his own notes on them, which he is preparing for publication. For a discussion of some of these coin finds, see H.R. Baldus, Deutscher Numismatikertag Muinchen 1981 (Munich 1983) 15. 1 Data on the Punic bronze coins found in the Italian excava- tions in 1976 were obtained through G.K. Jenkins' assistance. 1985] 1985] 671 671 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY TABLE A: Punic Bronze Coins found at Carthage by the Second American Team and by the French Team SNGCop Michigan Excavations French Excavations Total 1975-1982 1974-1976 94-97 4 5 9 98 2 2 4 102-105 1 1 2 109-119 3 5 8 120-123 7 7 144-178 3 2 5 220-223 3 1 4 224-225 1 1 226-232 1 1 251-252 1 1 255-260 1 1 261-268 2 2 274-275 1 1 2 302-313 2 1 3 409-413 2 4 6 Total 23 33 56 These coins bear a male head, wearing a wreath of wheat and an earring, normally facing left on the ob- verse, and a horse prancing to the right on the reverse. Most of them have a bullet flan, and seem to have been struck in at least two distinct denominations, ranging in module from 14 to 19 mm. (SNGCop 94) and from 8 to 12 mm. (SNGCop 98), which probably represent units and quarter fractions. The average weight of 267 SNGCop 94 in the Mqabba (Malta) hoard (5.724 g.),12 and that of 10 SNGCop 98 (1.335 g.),13 would support this conclusion. Some SNGCop 94-98 issues with open- cast flans and bevelled edges are also known; they are generally lighter in weight, are substantially less numer- 12 See G.K. Jenkins, Rivista di Studi Fenici, Suppl. 11 (1983) 30-35. 13 The coin collection of the Musee du Bardo contains 4 SNGCop 98, two of which, in fine condition, weigh 1.54 and 1.85 g. (size: 10-11 mm.). I owe these data to the kindness of M. Fantar and M. Ennaifer, Directeur du Musee du Bardo. A specimen found in the University of Michigan excavations weighs 1.57 g. (size: 9.5 mm.): see Metcalf (supra n. 1) Carthage 7, 68, no. 3. Three SNGCop 98 in the Cabinet des M6dailles, said to have been found at Carthage, weigh (after cleaning) 1.22, 1.25 and 1.48 g. respectively (nos. R 3011-13; sizes: 9.4, 10, 10.1 mm.); cf. B. Fischer, Les monnaies ous, and may have been struck later than the coins with a dumpy fabric. 4 The diffusion and dating of SNGCop 94-98, as well as their iconography and style, have recently been discussed by G.K. Jenkins.15 He has proposed that this series of coins be dated after 344 B.C. and has tentatively assigned it to a Punic mint in Sicily whose identity cannot yet, in his view, be determined. A. Tusa Cutroni, furthermore, has called attention to the fact that these issues were struck with loose dies in order-she believes-to rule out any attribution to Carthage, whose gold and electrum coins minted from ca. 320 B.C. onward have a regular die alignment. She has stressed the concentration of finds in antiques d'Afrique du Nord trouvees en Gaule [= Gallia Suppl. 36] (Paris 1978) 104-105. See also the specimens published by A. Tusa Cutroni, Sicilia Archeologica 2.7 (September 1969) 43, no. 106 (from Sicily?) and Jenkins (supra n. 12) 27 (unprovenanced). An unprovenanced SNGCop 98 in the collection of the American Nu- mismatic Society weighs 1.105 g. (size: 11.6 mm.). 14 Cf. SNGCop 97 and T. Hackens ed., SNG Grace. Collection Rena H. Evelpidis, Athenes 1. Italie-Sicile-Thrace (Louvain 1970) 702. '5 Jenkins (supra n. 12) 19-28. [AJA 89 672 ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES southwestern Sicily as an indication that this type of coin was minted locally, possibly at Selinous, in the first quar- ter of the fourth century B.C., and thus represents the earliest Punic bronze series.16 Yet while Tusa Cutroni's dating may be supported by the archaeological evidence from Selinous and Lily- baeum,17 some of her other comments are questionable. Since the earliest Carthaginian silver and gold coins (minted ca. 410-390 B.C. and ca. 350-320 B.C. respec- tively) were struck with loose dies,18 the same practice would have been adopted for the bronze. Moreover, it is certain that the SNGCop 94-98 issues played a larger role at Carthage than has hitherto been supposed. Even though only a small sample of all the Punic currency found at Carthage before 1972 has been adequately re- ported, the preponderance of SNGCop 94-98 specimens is also clear from the reports provided by A.-L. Delattre between 1890 and 1923: of the 213 Punic bronze coins that he described in detail, 102 belong to this series.19 Delattre also recorded the discovery in Punic burials of at least two assemblages of SNGCop 94-98,20 ranging in module from 15 to 17 mm. and from 8 to 10 mm. respec- tively, which would prove that only two denominations were in use. A survey of the coin collection in the Musee Lavigerie (today Musee de Carthage) by E.S.G. Robinson in 1935, three years after Delattre's death, yielded 590 specimens of this type of coin, 66 of which were small denomina- tions, in addition to three separate lots of SNGCop 94-98, mostly deriving from tombs excavated by De- lattre.21 Although Robinson's data cannot be presently verified,22 they reveal that more of these coins have been unearthed at Carthage than at any other Mediterranean 16 Tusa Cutroni, RIN 85 (1983) 35-42. 17 Cf. R. Martin, Kokalos 26-27 (1980-1981) vol. 11.2, 1015; A. Tusa Cutroni, Rivista di Studi Fenici, Suppl. 11 (1983) 40. 18 See G.K. Jenkins and R.B. Lewis, Carthaginian Gold and Electrum Coins (London 1963) 20-29; Jenkins, SNR 53 (1974) 23-41. 19 A.-L. Delattre, BAC 1893, 115; Le Cosmos. Revue des Sciences et de leurs applications 48 tome 41 no. 757 (29 July 1899) 149-50; no. 759 (12 August 1899) 212, 214; 49 tome 42 no. 792 (31 March 1900) 405-407; 49 tome 43 no. 807 (14 July 1900) 48; no. 808 (21 July 1900) 81; "Carthage. N6cropole Punique voisine de Sainte-Monique. Deuxieme semestre des fouilles (juillet-d6cembre 1898)," [offprint from Le Cosmos 1901?] 24; CRAI 1902, 444; CRAI 1903, 29; BAC 1905, 421; CRAI 1905, 484-85; CRAI 1906, 20; CRAI 1923, 364. 20 A group of 12 coins from a single burial lumped together by oxidation consisted of 7 SNGCop 94 (size: 15 mm.); 3 SNGCop 98 (size: 8 mm.) and 2 SNGCop 102 (size: 19 mm.); an aggregate of coins found inside a sarcophagus included 12 SNGCop 94 (size: 15 to 17 mm.; total weight: 58 g.) and 4 SNGCop 98 (size: 10 mm.; total weight: 6.35 g.): cf. A.-L. Delattre, Le Cosmos 49 tome 42 no. 792 (31 March 1900) 405; and BAC 1905, 421. 21 G.K. Jenkins has generously made available to me a copy of E.S.G. Robinson's manuscript notes on Punic coins in North Afri- can collections. Robinson saw 7 SNGCop 94-97 and 9 SNGCop 98 in the trays of the Mus6e Lavigerie, and he recorded 517 SNGCop 94-97, 57 fractions and 80 specimens to be identified either as SNGCop 94 or as SNGCop 102, from unsorted coin finds from De- lattre's excavations. Two of the aggregates of Punic bronze cur- rency descr