Phoenicia, Tyre. Silver Shekel (14.11 g), ca. 126/5 BC-AD 65/6. CY 3 (124/3 BC). Laureate bust of Melkart right, lion's skin tied at neck.
Reverse: TYPOY IEPAΣ KAI AΣYΛOY, eagle standing left on prow, palm on far wing; in left field, date (L Γ) and club; between eagle's legs, monogram and 'bet'.
Hendin 1618; DCA Suppl. 5. Fantastic high relief style. A magnificent example.
Superb Extremely Fine. Estimated Value $3,000 - UP
This splendid shekel from Tyre featuring the laureate bust of Melqart (equated with Herakles by the Greeks), was first struck during the last quarter of the second century BC and continued in production until the First Jewish War, which began in the late first century AD. The reverse features an eagle atop a prow, the prow symbolizing Phoenician maritime culture, and before the eagle is the club of Herakles. On this very early tetradrachm, the club is plain, but on later issues it is usually topped with a monogram of the city's ethnic, TYP. The shekels of Tyre are most famous for the fact that, during Roman times, they were required as the medium of payment for the Temple Tax in Jerusalem, and also as the coin used to pay Judas Iscariot for his betrayal of Jesus.
Ancient Coins
