1⁄16 Shekel

Sidon occupied a peculiar position among Phoenician cities in the late fifth century — nominally under Achaemenid Persian authority, yet granted enough autonomy to produce its own coinage in support of Persian naval operations. These fractional pieces were struck to facilitate small transactions in a port economy where precise subdivision of value mattered enormously. The series to which this piece belongs was likely minted under Straton I or one of his immediate predecessors.

Betlyon's classification of this type places it within a tightly dated horizon corresponding to increased Persian military activity in the eastern Mediterranean.