Īlong the east coast and particularly in the northeast a great number of towns minted silver drachmas. In addition to these coins and those of Gadir and Ebusus, Phoenician colonies along the south coast such as Malaka and Sexi also minted bronze coins. These coins may have been minted in the Barcid 'capital' of Carthago Nova or perhaps were minted simply in Carthaginian military camps. To fund their war effort, the Carthaginians minted gold, electrum, silver and bronze coins. This led to a widespread and dramatic increase in the number of places where coins were minted and the amount of coin in circulation. Part of the Second Punic War was fought in the Iberian Peninsula and coins were used by combatants on all sides. R: Two-headed horse, legend in Iberian: 'SIKARA'. In many such hoards, some of the silver has been cut into small pieces, which can be related to finds of weights and scales and suggests that this metal circulated as a form of 'proto-money'. For example, a late fifth century hoard found in a wall in the Iberian town of Puig de la Nau contained four gold earrings, a gold stud, a silver bracelet and a silver coin from Emporion. The discovery of mixed hoards containing coins, jewellery and precious metal bullion suggests that coins were being used as part of a range of ways to store, display and exchange wealth. Within Iberian society, wealth could take a variety of forms, sometimes regionally specific. Additionally, the prominent Iberian town of Arse (Roman Saguntum) minted bronze and silver coins from the middle of the fourth century. Further to the south, the Phoenician colonies of Ebusus and Gadir minted bronze coins from the second half of the fourth and early third centuries, respectively. In the north of the Iberian peninsula, the Massiliote Greek colonies of Emporion and Rhode minted mainly silver coins from the mid-fifth and late fourth centuries, respectively. Carthage minted from the mid-4th century, as with the Greek tradition following earlier emissions from Phoenician colonies in Sicily. Non-Greek cities in the Italian Peninsula (including Rome) begin minting in the 4th and early 3rd century. Throughout the western Mediterranean, new coinage traditions appear around the 4th century. Some coins may also have been earned by Iberian mercenaries fighting overseas. These coins were part of a colonial frontier economy in which indigenous towns traded wines, ceramics and finished goods primarily for raw materials: precious metals, wood, food products and perhaps slaves. Small numbers of coins minted in other parts of the Mediterranean had circulated along the eastern coast of Spain perhaps from the sixth century, with an uptick from the fourth century. Silver drachma of the Greek colony of Emporion, 241-218 BC, CNH 20:15 R: Pegasus right, legend in Greek: 'ΕΜΠΟΡΙΤΩΝ' (Emporion). O: Head Arethusa right, Sicilian style, with three dolphins.

The colonial background: 6th century BC to the Second Punic War (-218 BC) Yet there are also many points of difference that reflect dynamics within Iberia itself. After the cessation of the civic coinages, these Imperial coins were the only coins minted in Iberia until the coins of the Suebi and Visigoths.Īncient Iberia was connected to the eastern and central Mediterranean, and so there are links to the Greek, Roman and Punic ( Carthaginian) civic coinages. Some non-civic coins were minted on behalf of Roman emperors during this period and continued to be minted after the cessation of the civic coinages. Civic coinages - emissions made by individual cities at their own volition - continued under the first two and a half centuries of Roman control until ending in the mid-first century AD. The history of ancient Iberian coinage begins as early as the fifth century BC, but widespread minting and circulation in the Iberian peninsula did not begin until late in the third century, during the Second Punic War. The spread of minting in Iberia from the fifth century BC to the first century AD (known and likely locations)

Roman electrum coin price