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Obol
| Issuer | Uncertain Philistian city |
|---|---|
| Year | 450 BC - 333 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Janiform double head rendered in archaic style, the left face shown full-face with schematic features and a prominent headdress, the right face depicted in profile turning right. Both heads share a common neck and are surmounted by an elaborately beaded or dotted tiara-like headdress, rendered with careful detail typical of Philistian coinage. The overall composition is contained within the irregular flan, with the janiform motif occupying the full field. The style reflects a hybrid of Greek and Near Eastern artistic conventions characteristic of the Philistian coinage series. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Philistian coinage of this period is among the most taxonomically contested in ancient numismatics. The cities of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, and several lesser centers all produced small silver on Athenian and Persian weight standards simultaneously, and die-link studies have still not resolved attribution for many types. Gitler and Tal's 2006 corpus was a landmark effort, but the XXVII series specifically remains a problem group — "uncertain" here is not a diplomatic hedge but a genuine scholarly impasse.
These fractional silvers circulated in a corridor that saw Egyptian, Persian, and Aegean commercial traffic intersecting. Gaza's mint output dominated, but not exclusively.