CARTHAGE. Circa 310-290 BC. EL Stater (18.5mm, 7.52 g, 12h). Head of Tanit left, wearing grain wreath, triple-pendant earring and necklace, Horse standing right; four pellets below ground line. Jenkins & Lewis Group V, 298 (same dies); MAA 12; SNG Copenhagen 136. Near EF. Well struck on a broad flan from dies of fine stye.
On the series of electrum staters, Carthaginian mint masters used the placement of small pellets as a means of keeping track of dies and monitoring quality control. On this attractive specimen, a small pellet in front of Tanit’s neck has apparently been deliberately erased in the die. This can be seen comparing the photos of Jenkins & Lewis 298 and 299; the pellet is present in the latter but missing in the former, save for a faint vestigial depression, indicating the actual die sequence is reversed from the way they are displayed on the plate.
