North Africa - Zeugitania Carthage. Trishekel circa 264-241 BC. Head of Tanit (Kore-Persephone) left, wearing barley-wreath, triple pendant earring and necklace / Horse standing right, palm tree in the background. 17,97g. De Luynes 3773; MAA 43; Müller, Afrique 100. Rare. Good very fine. Provenance: From an old French Collection, formed between 1950 and 1980. This extremely rare trishekel was struck during one of the most turbulent periods in Carthaginian history: the First Punic War (264–241 BC). Faced with Rome’s advance in Sicily, Carthage was compelled to raise a vast mercenary army. Philinus of Agrigentum notes that this force numbered some 50,000 infantrymen, Ligurians, Celts, and Iberians among them, supported by 6,000 cavalry and 60 war elephants. Sustaining such an army demanded immense financial resources and the creation of new monetary types. As the war dragged on for more than two decades, the constant pressure of military expenditure pushed the Carthaginian treasury ever closer to collapse. The situation worsened after Carthage’s defeat, when Rome imposed harsh peace terms that severely undermined the city’s economic stability.