323, Lot: 16. Estimate $100. Sold for $80. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CARTHAGE, Second Punic War. Circa 203-201 BC. Æ 1½ Shekels (23mm, 9.02 g, 12h). Head of Tanit left, wearing wreath of grain ears and single-pendant earring / Horse standing right, head left; Phoenician B to right. MAA 81 var. (no B); SNG Copenhagen –. VF, dark green patina, a few cleaning scratches, ragged edge.

This coin is unusual in both style and design. On most (if not all?) other specimens, the horse’s right foreleg is bent at the knee and held up beneath the animal, while on this coin the forelegs are both on the ground and it is the back left leg that is lifted. Additionally, the letter “B” in the reverse field seems to be unrecorded for this issue. Finally, the style of Tanit is a bit different than normally encountered, with the hair bound short and neat and the face more rounded.