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1/4 Shekel
| Issuer | Tyre |
|---|---|
| Year | 440 BC - 425 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Phoenician |
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| Reverse description | Owl standing facing, with head turned to face the viewer, wings spread slightly, and talons resting on a rectangular base or plinth. To the upper left, a crook or sceptre-like object is visible. The entire design is executed in high relief within an incuse square, consistent with the hammered technique typical of early Phoenician silver coinage of the fifth century BC. The style reflects Egyptianizing artistic influences prevalent in Phoenician art of this period. |
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| Additional information |
Tyre's quarter-shekel fractional coinage of this period derives its authority from the city's position as the dominant commercial hub of the eastern Mediterranean, where Phoenician merchants required small silver for port transactions that the full shekel made impractical. The Tyrian shekel standard itself was later adopted — with modifications — as the basis for the temple tax coinage used in Jerusalem, a direct commercial inheritance from Phoenician trade infrastructure.