AR SHEKEL OF TYRE, "30 PIECES OF SILVER"
Hendin 1620, Very Fine+, minor planchet flaw near neck, 24m, 13.70 grams, Dated POB year 172 - 46/47 C.E.
Obverse: Laureate head of Melqart, wearing knotted lionskin around neck
Reverse: Eagle standing left with right foot on prow of ship, palm branch over rt. shoulder, date and club in field to left, surrounded by inscription "OF TYRE THE HOLY AND INVIOLABLE", KP in right field, date POB (172 = 46/47 C.E. ) in left field, Phoenicia "Bet" between legs
Light surface roughness, still very nice eye appeal and a very sharp portrait! Reverse somewhat off center.
Rare Year! The coins bearing the "KP" monogram were postulated by Y. Meshorer to have been minted in Jerusalem. Some contemporary scholars disagree and place the location at different mints either in Phoenicia or Israel. DCA by Edward Cohen proposes the different mint theory. He points out the differences in the fabric of the later coins, most specifically the direction the dates are written in. He writes (DCA page 501) that the coins from the date of this coin "109" are the earliest to move consistently from left to right and may be the year that the mint moved out of Tyre. Meshorer dates the move (to Jerusalem, in his opinion) to a year earlier.