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1/4 Shekel Ashdod
| Issuer | Ashdod |
|---|---|
| Year | 539 BC - 332 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1/4 Shekel |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Bearded male head facing right, rendered in a crude local imitation of Athenian or Persian Achaemenid style. The hair is depicted in thick, stylized strands swept back from the forehead, and a prominent beard frames the jaw. The facial features, including a well-defined eye, nose, and mouth, are boldly struck in high relief against a plain field. The overall style reflects the provincial workshops of the southern Levantine coast during the Persian period. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Aramaic |
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| Additional information |
Ashdod, one of the five principal Philistine cities, came under Achaemenid Persian administrative control following Cambyses II's campaigns, and local civic coinages like this quarter shekel emerged as part of a broader Persian policy allowing Levantine coastal cities to mint their own silver — primarily to pay troops and facilitate port commerce. The Philisto-Arabian coinage tradition these issues belong to drew heavily on Athenian and earlier Phoenician weight standards, which explains the frequent stylistic borrowing visible across the series.
Hendin 1002 is among the rarer civic types from this coastal cluster. Dies were cut locally and show considerable variety across specimens.