SILVER SHEKEL

GENERAL NOTE ON GREEK COINS
        The first Greek coins were produced around 700 BC either by the Lydians or the Ionian Greeks, using electrum, an alloy of gold and silver. Because the mixture of the compound was not constant and it was hard to detect the respective amounts, this coin was abandoned for a double system of gold and silver coinage, with the weights adjusted against each other for the purposes of ready exchange.
        There was an unevenness in the quality of the ancient Greek coins. In some periods the mint-makers were sometimes careless when the coins were struck in large quantities. While the deteriorated condition of some of the coin finds may be attributed to normal wear and tear, or to the circumstances of their deposit (dampness in tombs, encrustations, etc.), imperfections in minting may be a factor for consideration.
        Styles came and went in series and military defeat caused the forcible closure of some mints, e.g., the Athenian mint was superseded by the Macedonian mint during the heyday of Philip of Macedon and Alexander the Great, but in 220 it reopened but was closed again in 86 BC when Sulla captured Athens. No further silver coins were struck until the 2nd Cent AD when Athens was permitted to strike bronze coins for local use.
        The placement of the representations of the Greek gods was thought to ensure their protection. The goddess Athena was represented as an owl. Other types were the bee as a symbol for Artemis and the eagle for Zeus. Sometimes the symbols used were merely heraldic, e.g., the griffin of Abdera, the sphinx of Chios, and the ear of barley for Metapontum. Askew continues by quoting Barclay Head that until the time of Alexander the Great no Greek king, however great a ruler he was, attempted to put his representation on the coins. Only the gods were represented and honoured in the district where they were circulated.         
         This shekel does not have the head of Lysimachus or any of the Ptolemies. It does not have a date because Greek coins did not carry the date. This Shekel probably originated from Tyre and was part of a hoard of about 40 Jewish and Tyrian shekels found in the Siloam district of Jerusalem. 11 pieces were bought by A. Reifenberg. The latest coin in the 11 pieces was a Jewish shekel of the second year of the Jewish War against Rome and it was struck in 67 AD. Accordingly to the Israel Museum the hoard contained coins from the period 103-76 BC and these coins were in circulation during the reign of Alexander Jannaeus.

"This is one of the first hoards in which Tyrian shekels have been found together with Jewish shekels and it is very important. In the past, Jewish shekels were attributed to the Hasmonean period, and were thought to have been struck under Shimeon the Hasmonean (140-135 BCE). A find such as this, however, showing that Jewish shekels were circulated together with late Tyrian shekels, dating clearly to the sixties of the first century CE, and showing more signs of wear than Jewish shekels, gives final proof that the Jewish shekels were struck during the war of 66-70 CE. The inscription "Holy Jerusalem" on the Jewish shekels was inspired by a parallel Greek inscription on the Tyrian shekel, "Holy Tyre"" (Highlights of Archaeology, the Israel Museum, p. 122).