Overstruck Roman ases of 225-212 BC

[Michael Collins]

I`m researching the second Punic War and close to one of the potential sites for the battle of Zama, a Punic coin, an overstruck Roman as of 225-212 was found within the remains of a santuary dedicated to Ba`al Hammon Saturn. I`m interested therefore if anyone knows how many coins of this type have been found in Tunisia and in which areas? How common are they today? I`m also interested in gaining a better understanding of the how the coin arrived at its location. I think that there were probably two routes that the item in question may have taken and these originate either through the pay and bonuses given to Scipio Africanus` army between 205 and 201, or it may have been brought from southern Italy by one of Hannibal`s soldiers in the late summer of 203 BC?  Photo taken from:  Lotfi Rahmouni`s Les monnaies dans les fouilles de Henchir Ghayadha Antiquités Africaines(2008)

[Deinomenid]

It's extremely difficult  to know any  North African  find locations etc outside of archeological dig reports.

Coinhoards.org  has a  handful of  sites in that approx area.  It's very low though.

Also this just in case -

https://www.ajaonline.org/book-review/3850

[Michael Collins]

Thanks for the link and reference, as any potential lead for my research is welcome!

I haven`t found much apart from the "Recherches d’archéologie et d’histoire à Henchir Ghayadha /
Bagat ? (Tunisie)" report, but this was because I suspected that a temple, or a santuary was located there.

I think i`ll have to google search the historical and present-day archaeological site names in the area plus some key French terms. 

 

[Michael Collins]

Just to update you, if you`ve been following this dear members,

I found this yesterday afternoon:

"Only at one time in Carthage`s monetry history was Greek bronze currency deliberately transported to North Africa to be re-used as Carthaginian money: a large quantity of Syracusan issues of Hieron II and an issue of the Fifth Democracy (214-212 BC), as well as Roman coins captured in connection with the Carthaginian expedition to Sicily in 213-210, were overstruck at Carthage and put back into circulation. The high number of Carthaginian coin types used for overstriking, and the finding of one of these overstruck issues in controlled excavations at Henchir Ghayadha, in noth-central Tunisia, (67) attest to the scale of the operation and of the movement of these coins within the Carthaginian state."

VISONÀ, PAOLO. “More Greek Coins from Carthage and Elsewhere in Tunisia.” The Numismatic Chronicle (1966-), vol. 176, 2016, pp. 111–33. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26637314. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024. Page 120.

 

So, the Roman as (minted between 225 and 212 BC) and found in the modified form of an overstruck Carthaginian shekel at Henchir Ghayadha could be one of the Roman coins that were originally transported from Sicily in 210 BC.

[TIF]

1 hour ago, Michael Collins said:

Just to update you, if you`ve been following this dear members,

I found this yesterday afternoon:

"Only at one time in Carthage`s monetry history was Greek bronze currency deliberately transported to North Africa to be re-used as Carthaginian money: a large quantity of Syracusan issues of Hieron II and an issue of the Fifth Democracy (214-212 BC), as well as Roman coins captured in connection with the Carthaginian expedition to Sicily in 213-210, were overstruck at Carthage and put back into circulation. The high number of Carthaginian coin types used for overstriking, and the finding of one of these overstruck issues in controlled excavations at Henchir Ghayadha, in noth-central Tunisia, (67) attest to the scale of the operation and of the movement of these coins within the Carthaginian state."

VISONÀ, PAOLO. “More Greek Coins from Carthage and Elsewhere in Tunisia.” The Numismatic Chronicle (1966-), vol. 176, 2016, pp. 111–33. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26637314. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024. Page 120.

 

So, the Roman as (minted between 225 and 212 BC) and found in the modified form of an overstruck Carthaginian shekel at Henchir Ghayadha could be one of the Roman coins that were originally transported from Sicily in 210 BC.

How interesting!  It prompted me to check ACsearch for some of these.  Here's one:

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5843592

Greek
North Africa, Carthage. Second Punic War Shekel. Uncertain mint, circa 221-210 BC. Overstruck on a Poseidon/Trident issue of Hieron II as tyrant of Syracuse, Sicily. Wreathed head of Tanit left / Horse standing right, head reverted; star in upper left field, Punic letter before horse. For overtype: CNP 98a; MAA 88j; SNG Copenhagen 316; for undertype: BAR issue 75; CNS 194; HGC 2, 1550. 7.50g, 20mm, 3h.
About Good Very Fine. Rare, an interesting overstrike example.
The undertype obverse, featuring a portrait of Poseidon facing left, can be clearly discerned at 90 anticlockwise to the head of Tanit struck over it, while the trident reverse of Hieron II's coin has added attractive decoration to the horses flanks of the overtype Carthaginian coin.

[Michael Collins]

Many thanks TIF, Good to find an example of Hieron`s coins and the historical background to the story of that shekel found at Henchir Ghayadha - and as the dates line up, who knows, it may well be a piece in the story of Hannibal`s defeat in the Zama campaign of 202 BC?