In 1996, McMenamin proposed a controversial theory that Phoenician sailors discovered the New World c. 350 BC.[12] The Phoenician state of Carthage minted gold staters in 350 BC bearing a pattern in the reverse exergue of the coins, which McMenamin interpreted as a map of the Mediterranean with the Americas shown to the west across the Atlantic.[12][13] McMenamin later demonstrated that putative Carthaginian coins found in America were modern forgeries.[14]