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1/2 Shekel
| Issuer | Sidon |
|---|---|
| Year | 435 BC - 425 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 17 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The Persian Great King in striding posture to the right, wearing the royal kidaris (tiara) and long robe, depicted as a royal warrior-hero holding a bow in his extended left hand and a spear or dagger in his right; his garment flows dynamically behind him. An incuse square occupies the field, as is typical of the hammered technique employed for early Phoenician silver issues. A stylized curved line, possibly representing a bow or floral element, appears in the lower right field. The scene reflects Achaemenid artistic conventions adapted to Phoenician coinage under Persian suzerainty. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Sidon operated as the dominant Phoenician city under Achaemenid administration during this period, its mint producing coinage primarily to fund Persian military and naval operations — Sidonian ships formed the backbone of the Persian fleet, and the city's coinage circulated far beyond the Levantine coast as a result. The half shekel denomination served practical transactional needs where the full shekel was too large.
Betlyon's sequencing places this type early in the Sidonian series, before the city's eventual destruction by Artaxerxes III in 345 BC following a failed revolt.