SICILY, Panormos (as Ṣyṣ). Circa 405-380 BC. AR Litra (11.5mm, 0.76 g, 6h). Male head left / Ba’al of Ṣyṣ, as androcephalic bull standing left, head facing; Š BA’AL ṢYṢ (in Punic) in exergue. Jenkins, Punic p. 75, 12 var. (swastika on obv., legend above on rev.); CNP 395; HGC 2, 1050 corr. (litra, legend): SNG Lloyd 1591; BMC 31; Pozzi 515; Weber 1486. Old cabinet tone. EF. Exceptional for issue.

From the M.J.W. Collection. Ex Nomos 6 (8 May 2012), lot 19; Münzen und Medaillen AG FPL 461 (November/December 1983), no. 9.

From the Nomos catalog: “This coin is unusually attractive. The head on the obverse, often thought to be a river god though he lacks the characteristic horn over the ear river gods have, is very finely modeled and is reminiscent of the head on the early Apollo/Wheel obols of Massalia. The man-headed bull on the reverse is, if anything, even more finely engraved and is particularly elegant, equal to the finest productions from Neapolis. This is yet another example of the way the people of Sicily insisted that the coins they used in daily commerce should not just be utilitarian, but beautiful as well.”