Catalog
1⁄12 Shekel dolphin
| Issuer | Tyre |
|---|---|
| Year | 450 BC - 400 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | ¹⁄₁₂ Shekel (⅓) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | A dolphin depicted in profile swimming to the right, rendered in archaic Phoenician style with a curved body and defined rostrum. The type is characteristic of Tyrian small silver coinage of the fifth century BC, reflecting the city's close maritime identity. The design is contained within a cable border encircling the field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | An owl standing to the right with head turned to face the viewer in the characteristic frontal position associated with Phoenician civic coinage of this period. The bird is depicted with a sceptre and an Egyptian flail held transversely beneath the left wing, emblems reflecting Egyptian cultural influence on Tyrian iconography. The entire design is enclosed within a cable border. |
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| Additional information |
Tyre's fractional coinage of this period predates the city's absorption into the Achaemenid monetary sphere and reflects its status as the dominant Phoenician trading port on the Levantine coast. These tiny silver fractions circulated alongside the city's larger owl-and-galley issues, facilitating small transactions in a port economy where precise division of value mattered enormously. The dolphin motif was not decorative whimsy — it carried specific denominational meaning within Phoenician civic coinage, distinguishing fractions by type rather than size alone.
Dies for pieces this small wore rapidly, and no two surviving examples strike quite the same.