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1/4 Shekel Philistia
| Issuer | Uncertain Philistian city |
|---|---|
| Year | 539 BC - 332 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Facing janiform head occupying the entire field: on the left, a male head rendered in archaic Greek style with a laureate or wreathed coiffure, and on the right, a female head facing right, displaying carefully incised hair arranged in wavy locks. The two heads share a common neck and are depicted in close juxtaposition, a design motif derived from Athenian and Phoenician prototypes. The surfaces show the characteristic irregular flan and slightly ragged edges typical of hand-hammered Philistian coinage of the Persian period. No legend or inscription is present. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Head of Athena facing right, helmeted in an Attic crested helmet adorned with an olive branch or floral motif at the crest, rendered within a shallow incuse square with rounded corners. The facial features — almond-shaped eye, prominent nose, and closed lips — are executed in a provincial imitation of Athenian coinage style. The field surrounding the head is plain, and the flan is irregular and somewhat thicker at the centre, consistent with the hand-struck technique of Persian-period Philistian silver issues. No legend is present. |
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| Additional information |
Philistian coinage emerged in the late sixth century BC almost certainly under Achaemenid Persian administrative pressure — the satraps needed a standardized medium for tax collection and troop payment across the Levantine coast. These small silver fractions circulated in a corridor of city-states, Gaza most prominently among them, that maintained remarkable commercial autonomy under Persian oversight. Attributing specific issues to individual cities remains contested; Hendin's framework offers the best available taxonomy, but the question of which mint struck which type is genuinely unresolved.
The fractional denominations dominate the surviving corpus, suggesting small-scale market use rather than state disbursement.