Roma, 2.7.2016
Egregio
Lettore,
di seguito riporto gli elementi significativi
pertinenti alla moneta di figura:
Ę161,
zecca siculo-punica, 400 - 350 a. C., BMC II
1 (pag. 255), SNG
Copenhagen 97
Descrizione sommaria:
D. Tanit, testa coronata di spighe a sinistra2.
R. Cavallo impennato a destra3. Linea d'esergo
non visibile nella foto oppure assente.
La ricerca nel web di monete di tipologia simile a
quella di figura ha prodotto i seguenti risultati:
- http://www.magnagraecia.nl/coins/Punic_map/Zeugitana_map/descrPunSas_056-136.html
Siculo-Punic coin, 370/60-340/25 BC. Obv. head of
Trittolemo? Rev. horse prancing or galloping. 4.55
g Holleman 106 30.
- http://www.magnagraecia.nl/coins/Punic_map/Zeugitana_map/descrPunSas_056-136c.html
Siculo-Punic coin, 370/60-340/25 BC. Obv. head of
Trittolemo? Rev. horse prancing or galloping 7.43g
Holleman 1996 h.
- Ebay
Bronze 13mm (4.89 grams) Struck 400-350 B.C.
Reference: Alexandropoulos 15a; SNG Copenhagen 97;
Head of Tanit left, wreathed with corn. Horse
galloping right; ground line beneath. Carthage in
Zeugitana 400BC Tanit Cult Head of Tanit left,
wreathed with corn. Horse galloping right; ground
line beneath. Tanit was a Phoenician lunar
goddess, worshiped as the patron goddess at
Carthage where from the fifth century BCE onwards
her name is associated with that of Baal Hammon
and she is given the epithet pene baal ("face of
Baal") and the title rabat, the female form of rab
(chief) (Markoe 2000:130). Tanit and Baal Hammon
were worshiped in Punic contexts in the Western
Mediterranean, from Malta to Gades into
Hellenistic times. In North Africa, where the
inscriptions and material remains are more
plentiful, she was, as well as a consort of Baal,
a heavenly goddess of war, a virginal mother
goddess and nurse, and, less specifically, a
symbol of fertility. Several of the major Greek
goddesses were identified with Tanit by the
syncretic interpretatio graeca, which recognized
as Greek deities in foreign guise the gods of most
of the surrounding non-Hellene cultures. Her
shrine excavated at Sarepta in southern Phoenicia
revealed an inscription that identified her for
the first time in her homeland and related her
securely to the Phoenician goddess Astarte
(Ishtar). One site where Tanit was uncovered is at
Kerkouan, in the Cap Bon peninsula in Tunisia. The
origins of Tanit are to be found in the pantheon
of Ugarit, especially in the Ugaritic goddess Anat
(Hvidberg-Hansen 1982), a consumer of blood and
flesh. There is significant, albeit disputed,
evidence, both archaeological and within ancient
written sources (Markoe 2000:136), pointing
towards child sacrifice forming part of the
worship of Tanit and Baal Hammon. Tanit was also a
goddess among the ancient Berber people. Her
symbol, found on many ancient stone carvings,
appears as a trapezoid/trapezium closed by a
horizontal line at the top and surmounted in the
middle by a circle: the horizontal arm was often
terminated either by two short upright lines at
right angles to it or by hooks. Later, the
trapezoid/trapezium was frequently replaced by an
isosceles triangle.The symbol is interpreted by
Hvidberg-Hansen as a woman raising her hands. In
Egyptian, her name means Land of Neith, Neith
being a war goddess. In modern times the name,
with the spelling "Tanith", has been used as a
female given name, both for real people and, more
frequently, in occult fiction.
- http://munzeo.com/coin/agm-siculo-punic-carthage-ae16-20820090
°AGM° Siculo-Punic Carthage AE16 - Tanit/Prancing
Horse Winning price 32.5US Number of bids 21,
Ireland 23 Sep 2012 Price in Euro 25.05.
Zeugitana, Carthage, Siculo-Punic Mint Cast Flan
AE16 7.62 ca 306 BC. O: Hd Tanit wreathed with
corn l. R: Horse prancing r. SG - , SNG Cop 95.
Extremely thick (6mm) flan! Nearly twice the
weight of the usual issues.
- http://romanumismatics.com/auction/lot/0030/
Description: North Africa, Carthage Ę15. Circa
400-350 BC. Wreathed head of Tanit left / Horse
prancing right on ground line. SNG Copenhagen 97.
6.84g, 15mm, 6h. About Near Extremely Fine. Ex
Naville Numismatics Auction 8, 6 July 2014, lot
27. Lot 30: North Africa, Carthage Ę15. Estimate:
£50.00 Currently: £65.00 High Bidder: FirenzeRoma
Bids: 4 Ending: 02/07/2016.
- http://www.deamoneta.com/auctions/view/352/27
Monete 27. Carthaginian Domain, Sicily, c. 370-340
BC. Ę (15mm, 5.52g, 7h). Head of Tanit l. R/ Horse
prancing r. CNS III 3. Green patina, near VF. Base
d'asta: £35 Offerte asta: -. Invenduto.
- https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2008332
Numismatik Naumann (formerly Gitbud & Naumann)
http://www.numismatik-naumann.de/ Auction 18 362
1. June 2014 Description: ZEUGITANIA.
Carthage. Ae (Circa 400-350 BC). Obv: Wreathed
head of Tanit left. Rev: Prancing horse right. SNG
Copenhagen 97. Condition: Very fine. Weight:
6.30g. Diameter: 16mm.
- https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2402610
London Ancient Coins Ltd http://www.lacoins.co.uk/
Auction 42 21 1. April 2015 Description:
Carthaginian Domain, Sicily, c. 370-340 BC. Ę
(17mm, 5.40g, 1h). Head of Tanit l. R/ Horse
prancing r. CNS III 3. Green patina, VF.
- https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2431807
London Ancient Coins Ltd http://www.lacoins.co.uk/
Auction R 16 25. April 2015 Description:
Carthaginian Domain, Sicily, c. 370-340 BC. Ę
(15mm, 4.55g, 3h). Head of Tanit l. R/ Horse
prancing r. CNS III 3. Brown patina, Good VF.
- https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2558352
London Ancient Coins Ltd http://www.lacoins.co.uk/
Auction S 13 3. July 2015 Description:
Carthaginian Domain, Sicily, c. 370-340 BC. Ę
(14mm, 7.29g, 10h). Head of Tanit l. R/ Horse
prancing r. CNS III 3. Green patina, Good Fine -
near VF.
- https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2570247
Agora Auctions http://agoraauctions.com/ Sale 36
96 14. July 2015 Description: ZEUGITANIA,
Carthage. IV Century BC. AE13 (5.24 gm). Head of
Tanit / Horse prancing. SNG.Cop.98. aVF, dark
brown patina, some porosity.
Concludo osservando che, per quanto consentito da
una valutazione a distanza, la moneta appare
autentica. Il tipo č piuttosto comune, ragione per
cui il valore venale della moneta, nello stato in
cui si trova, non dovrebbe superare i 20,00.
Un saluto cordiale.
Giulio De Florio
--------------------------
Note:
(1) Ę16 (moneta
di bronzo di 16mm di diametro). Raccolgo in
tabella le caratteristiche fisiche delle monete di
bronzo della tipologia di figura reperite nel web:
Riferimenti |
Peso(g) |
Diametro(mm) |
Asse
di conio (h) |
Link1 |
4,55 |
- |
- |
Link2 |
7,43 |
- |
- |
Link3 |
4,89 |
13 |
- |
Link4 |
7,62 |
16 |
- |
Link5 |
6,84 |
15 |
- |
Link6 |
5,52 |
15 |
7 |
Link7 |
6,30 |
16 |
- |
Link8 |
5,40 |
17 |
1 |
Link9 |
4,55 |
15 |
3 |
Link10 |
7,29 |
14 |
10 |
Link11 |
5,24 |
- |
- |
Si evince dalla tabella che le caratteristiche
fisiche della moneta in esame (6g, c. 16mm, 12h)
rientrano nei margini di variabilitą delle monete
autentiche dello stesso tipo reperite nel web.
(2) Per le notizie sulla dea
Tanit/Core/Kore rimando alla trattazione del sito http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanit
o alla relativa versione in italiano, https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanit.
La moneta fu battuta nel nome di Cartagine in
Zeugitana (la cui patrona era proprio la dea Tanit
rappresentata sul dritto della moneta) o comunque in
area sicula sotto controllo cartaginese.
(3) Riferisce Barclay Head nel
suo Historia Numorum (v. link)
che Cartagine, con la sua popolazione di circa
700.000 abitanti non fece uso di moneta sino alla
grande invasione della Sicilia nel 410 a. C. Il
contatto con i Greci e le necessitą belliche
costituirono l'occasione immediata per dare inizio
alla monetazione. I Punici appresero dai Greci
l'arte della coniazione e questo salta evidente
quando si considera che adottarono sul dritto delle
loro monete il tipo siculo Persefone/Core e uno
stile inconfondibilmente greco nelle loro prime
emissioni. Il cavallo č un simbolo attestato del
popolo cartaginese (v. Eneide, libro I, 442 e segg.:
"..qui, sbattuti dai flutti e dai turbini, i Punici
scavarono il segno che aveva mostrato loro Giunone
sovrana, la testa d'un ardente cavallo."). Si vorrą
notare a questo proposito che Tanit era venerata in
Nord Africa sotto il nome latino di Juno Caelestis,
a causa della sua identificazione con la dea romana
Giunone. |