Phoenicians established their first major wave of colonies on the coasts between their homeland and the Strait of Gibraltar in the 8th centuryBC, but Iol was probably established around 600BC and the oldest remains so far discovered at Cherchell date from the 5th centuryBC. By that time, Carthage had already taken control of the Phoenicians in the western Mediterranean. Punic Iol was one of the more important trading posts in what is now Algeria. In the 3rd centuryBC, it was fortified and began issuing Numidia's first coins in bronze and silver, bearing Punic text, Carthaginian gods, and images of local produce, particularly fish.