The 10 dinars of 2005 takes us back to the very beginning of Tunisian history — to the Phoenician princess Elissa, the legendary founder of Carthage. Her portrait fills the front, with the El Abidine mosque in Carthage in the background.

The back shows the Roman ruins of Dougga (Thugga) and a parabolic satellite dish: antiquity and the communications of a new century on one sheet. Dougga was in turn a Berber settlement, a seat of Numidian kings and a Roman town.

The note entered circulation on 8 November 2005 as an updated version of the country’s most frequently used banknote. Held up to the light, Elissa appears in the watermark as well.

For a Tunisia collection this is a landmark note of the 2000s, and for topical sets on the ancient world or women on banknotes it tells of a founding princess and a town that outlived several civilisations. UNC condition means the note has never circulated: no folds, no wear, no soiling, even corners — just as it left the press.

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