1/4 Shekel Ashdod

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.