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SICULO-PUNIC, ‘Cape of Melkart’. Circa 330-305 BC. AR Tetradrachm (23.5mm, 17.21 g, 7h). Probably Lilybaion mint. Charioteer, holding kentron in extended right hand and reins in left, driving fast quadriga right; above, Nike flying left, crowning charioteer with open wreath held in both hands; [RŠ]ML[QRT] (“Raš Melqart” in Punic) in exergue / Head of Arethousa right, wearing wreath of grain ears, triple-pendant earring, and pearl necklace; four dolphins swimming around. Jenkins, Punic 66 (O22/R50); CNP 312; BAR Issue 1; HGC 2, 741; BMC 10 (same dies); Boston MFA Supp. 23 (same dies). Attractively toned, minor edge split, die rust on obverse, minor flan flaw on reverse. Good VF.
From the ZZZ Collection. Ex Triton XXVII (9 January 2024), lot 105; Heinrich Rudolf Peter Collection (Künker 347, 22 March 2021), lot 711; Künker 97 (7 March 2005), lot 323; Hagen Tronnier Collection (Künker 94, 27 September 2004), lot 474; Münz Zentrum 51 (28 March 1984), lot 53.
Lilybaion, modern day Marsala, was a Punic city in Sicily founded in the fourth century BC. The destruction of the chief Punic stronghold Motya in 397 BC by the Syracusan tyrant Dionysios I left the denizens of Motya without a home and Carthage without a primary military base on the island. In order to remedy both of these issues, the city of Lilybaion was founded by the survivors from Motya. The new port town would become a thriving trade hub and the most important military base in Sicily. The strong new walls that were built to defend the city were able to fend off both Pyrrhos of Epeiros and the Romans. It was the last bastion of Punic rule in Sicily during Pyrrhos’ conquest of the island, beating back his attempts to take the city before his campaign unraveled entirely. The Romans placed the city under a nine year siege with numerous assaults during the First Punic War, but they were never able to capture the city and only gained control of it after Carthage’s surrender at the end of the war.
The issue of tetradrachms that are purportedly from Lilybaion were all struck in the later half of the fourth century BC. While many show strong affinity for Syracusan styles from the same period, Jenkins notes that this series relies heavily on prototypes from the Entella series.
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