Ancient coin

05 Mar 2026

The astonishing discovery, handed to an unwitting local bus driver in the 1950s, was produced by Carthaginians, part of the Phoenician culture, in the Spanish city of Cadiz during the 1st Century BC and has now kindly been donated to Leeds Museums and Galleries. On one side it bears the face of the god Melqart, resembling the Greek hero Herakles and wearing his famed lionskin headdress. At that time, some Phoenician coins carried Greek imagery to make them more appealing to traders.

Ancient coin: The astonishing discovery, handed to an unwitting local bus driver in the 1950s, was produced by Carthaginians, part of the Phoenician culture, in the Spanish city of Cadiz during the 1st Century BC and has now kindly been donated to Leeds Museums and Galleries.
On one side it bears the face of the god Melqart, resembling the Greek hero Herakles and wearing his famed lionskin headdress. At that time, some Phoenician coins carried Greek imagery to make them more appealing to traders.

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