PHILISTIA. Central Mint. Athenian-styled, circa 420-350 BCE. Mʿh = Obol (Silver, 10 mm, 0.60 g, 6 h). Female head to right, the hair drawn back and tied into a ponytail. Rev. Owl standing facing, wings closed; to upper left and right, olive leaf; to lower left, 𐡃 or 𐡓 (D or R in retrograde Aramaic); to lower right, 𐡌 (M in Aramaic); all within incuse square. Gitler & Tal XIV.31Oa (this coin). Hendin -. Jeselsohn 264. Mildenberg pl. LVI, 33 (same dies). Shoshana -. Sofaer -. Svoronos pl. 110, 34-35. Extremely rare and undoubtedly the finest known example. Beautifully centered and very attractively toned, with excellent detail. Very minor roughness, otherwise, extremely fine.



Like lot 64 above, this type derives from Athenian hemidrachms with flanking olive branches, though here the branches have been reduced to single leaves. The meaning of the inscription remains unknown. The obverse, on the other hand, is reminiscent to the Ashkelon mʿwt (see lots 17-19 above).