SAMARIA. Uncertain. Circa 400-332 BC. Quarter M'h (Silver, 6 mm, 0.10 g). Facing head of Bes. Rev. Forepart of a horse to right within incuse square. CSC Philistia 14 (assigned to Philistia with question mark). Jeselsohn 379 (assigned to Philistia with question mark). Sofaer -. Very rare and nicely toned. Struck slightly off center, otherwise, about extremely fine.


The attribution of these pieces is disputed. In the Jeselsohn Collection, they were classified under Samaria, although the commentary also leaves open the possibility of a Philistian origin. In the new Corpus of Samarian Coinage, by contrast, they are placed under Philistia, while the commentary likewise leaves open the possibility of a Samarian origin. Although depictions of Bes are especially well known from Philistia, we prefer to attribute these pieces to Samaria because of the similarity of the obverse type to CSC 79–80 and the reverse to CSC 81.