PHILISTIA. Central Mint (?). Athenian-styled, circa 420-350 BCE. Rbʾ Šql = Drachm (Silver, 14 mm, 3.52 g, 5 h). Janiform bearded male head. Rev. Owl standing right, head facing; to left, olive sprig; to right, Α☉; all within circular incuse. Gitler & Tal XIV.18Da (this coin). Hendin -. Jeselsohn -. Shoshana -. Sofaer -. Unique and of great importance. A beautifully toned and impressive coin, remarkable for its imposing janiform head in a distinctively local style. Good very fine.



Janiform heads are frequently depicted on Philistian coins. In most cases, they combine a bearded male face with a female face, a pairing also familiar from Greek coinage, especially that of Tenedos. Types with two bearded male faces are also attested, however, as for example on lot 80 above. Unlike that piece, which stands out for its exceptional, Greek-influenced style, the present specimen is a much more conspicuously local product. Here, the two faces are hardly connected at all, forming a double head rather than a single one. The local artist has rendered the faces in a markedly more rudimentary style, which, with its bulging foreheads, prominent noses and large eyes, appears almost brutalist. As a drachm, this impressive piece is apparently without parallel, since the type is otherwise known exclusively as an obol (see lots 61-62 below).