1/2 Ma'ah-Obol Samaria

Samarian coinage emerged under Persian administration, struck by local authorities within a satrapal system that permitted regional minting as a practical concession to commerce rather than any grant of political autonomy. These fractional silver pieces circulated alongside imported Greek coins — Attic owls and their fractions dominated the Levantine economy — and the Samarian issues were sized specifically to function within that international weight standard.

The series ends abruptly in 332 BC with Alexander's siege and destruction of Samaria following a revolt in which the Macedonian governor Andromachus was burned alive.