70. CARTHAGE, Second Punic War. Circa 220-205 BC. EL Three-eighths Stater (15.5mm, 2.80 g, 12h). Head of Tanit left, wearing wreath of grain ears, triple-pendant earring, and necklace / Unbridled horse standing right on exergual line. Jenkins & Lewis Group XV, 476–7; MAA 73; SNG Copenhagen 332–4. Good VF, toned, a touch of die wear. Rare. ($2000) From the Camerata Romeu Collection. Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 27 (12 May 2004), lot 144; Classical Numismatic Group 69 (8 June 2005), lot 748.
71. CARTHAGE, Second Punic War. Circa 220-205 BC. AR Half Shekel (18mm, 3.11 g, 12h). Struck during the expedition to Sicily, circa 213-210 BC. Head of Melkart left, wearing laurel wreath / Elephant advancing right; a (Punic A) in exergue. MAA –; cf. Visonà 55 (shekel); Walker 29; Burnett, Enna 123 (same dies); SNG Copenhagen 383; SNG Newham Davis 107. Good VF, toned, obverse a little off center. Rare. ($1500) From the Camerata Romeu Collection. These coins were originally attributed to the Punic mint in Spain, but subsequent hoard evidence has established that they were struck either in Carthage or a Carthaginian mint in Sicily during the Second Punic War (see A. Walker, “Some Hoards from Sicily and a Carthaginian Issue of the Second Punic War” in Studies Mildenberg, p. 275, and note 6). Burnett (Enna) argued, based on the fixed die axes of the coins, that this issue was struck in Carthage, but for circulation in Sicily.
72. SKYTHIA, Olbia. Circa 437-410 BC. Cast Æ (68mm, 108.26 g, 1h). Facing gorgoneion / Sea eagle flying right, wings spread, holding in its talons a dolphin right; Å-r-5-c around. Anokhin 168; Karyshkovskij p. 395, Таб. III=C, 2; Frolova & Abramzon 156–8; SNG BM Black Sea 383; SNG Pushkin 38–42; SNG Stancomb 343; Sutzu II 95–6. Good VF, gray-green patina, a few marks and tiny edge chips. ($2000) This series was a development in the coinage at Olbia following the expedition of Perikles to the region. During this expedition, Perikles promoted the democratic style of government, and removed aristocracies and oligarchies from power at a number of the cities, which were then brought into the Delian League. This event is reflected on the new series at Olbia in three ways. First, the name of the magistrate, who had been part of the ruling oligarchy, was removed from the coinage. Second, the obverse type was changed to a facing gorgoneion, which was emblematic of the protecting cuirass of Athena (Athens). And finally, the reverse shows a dolphin in the talons of Zeus’s eagle. This reverse type is particularly significant, as the dolphin, long a symbol of the cult of Apollo Delphinios, whose leaders were members of the oligarchy, was now depicted under the influence of Zeus, whose cult was ascendant under the democratic government, when he was known as Zeus Eleutherios (cf. Y.G. Vinogradov, Pontische Studien: Kleine Schriften zur Geschichte und Epigraphik des Schwarzmeerraumes [Mainz, 1997]: 212–5).
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