Very Rare Carthaginian Bronze Overstruck on a Hieron II Bronze

378, Lot: 80. Estimate $100. Sold for $340. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CARTHAGE, Second Punic War. Circa 215-201 BC. Æ Shekel (19mm, 5.99 g, 9h). Mint on Sicily(?). Wreathed head of Tanit left / Horse standing right, head left. Cf. CNP 93 and 106; cf. MAA 90; cf. SNG Copenhagen 302-323. VF, dark brown patina with touches of red. Overstruck on a bronze of Hieron II with Poseidon head right/Trident; CNS II 198 for type.

From the J. P. Righetti Collection, 21.

An interesting overstruck coin that clearly shows the trident with part of Hieron’s name with the control letters Θ Φ below (control letters not listed in CNS) on the obverse. On the reverse, the undertype is a head of Poseidon right, not left, which is a very rare variety, only represented by six examples in Calciati/CNS. There are two examples in SNG Copenhagen, 323 and 325, that are also overstruck on a Hieron II bronze, but only the trident is visible on the reverse of those specimens.