SICILY, Akragas. Punic occupation. 213-210 BC. AR Half Shekel (20mm, 3.57 g, 11h). Male head right (Triptolemos?), wearing wreath of grain ears / Horse leaping right; Punic Ḥ below; all within wreath. Walker dies II/7; cf. Burnett,
Enna 133/134 (same obv./rev. dies); HGC 2, 172; SNG Copenhagen 378 (Carthage). EF, attractive cabinet toning, minor double strike on reverse. Struck on a broad flan.
Originally attributed to Heimpsal II of Numidia, this issue was firmly reattributed to the Carthaginians in Sicily (cf. R.R. Holloway, “Monete provenienti dagli scavi di Moragantina e già attribuite a Hiempsal II” in AIIN 7–8 [1961], pp. 35–7), and most likely to the mint of Akragas (cf. Burnett, Enna, pp. 12–3). Although Burnett suggested that this issue was struck no later than 211 BC, Walker’s analysis of three Sicilian hoards conclusively dates this coinage to circa 213–210 BC, during the Second Punic War. At the outbreak of the war in 218, Akragas was a loyal ally of Rome, but was captured by the Carthaginians in 214. Despite attempts by Rome to retake the city, the Punic garrison held out for nearly four years, until a dispute between the Carthaginians and their Numidian mercenaries led to the betrayal of Akragas to the forces of M. Valerius Laevinus. Unlike the ubiquitous Siculo-Punic coins struck at Entella, the die study of the issues a Akragas shows that the present issue was of a very short duration. Although they were struck from well-executed dies, the hoard coins show that they were not struck with great care, which is not unusual for coins issued in the midst of war. As such, high grade pieces like the present specimen are exceptional, even though these coins are relatively plentiful today.
