Melqart Shekel of Tyre -vs- Seleucid Tetradrachm from Tyre

I have seen the find of a Tyrian Shekel reported in two different online news sources recently. Here is one of the articles:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/scie...-tyrian-shekel-jerusalem-archaeology-news-evg

Strange thing though: It is not a Shekel of Tyre. It is a Seleucid tetradrachm from Tyre.

The portrait immediately caught my eye as being unlike Melqart's portrayals, and instead more like that of Demetrius II. But what I should have noticed first was that the reverse legend clearly includes the name Demetrius.

Granted, it is believed that the late Seleucid Tetradrachms from Tyre were accepted at the Temple in Jerusalem, but a Shekel and a Tetradrachm are not synonymous.

Am I bad to find this quote from the article sad and a little amusing? "Experts have identified this as Melqart"... Experts?

EDIT: Adding a link to another article on this...
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/c...und-during-tower-of-david-conservation-663456

 

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Thanks for sharing. It is not the first time I see misattributions in finds in Israel by "experts".
It is indeed a Demetrios II tetradrachm minted in Tyre, so definitely not a Tyrian shekel (that would indicate it is struck autonomously by the city).
Also it is as you say a tetradrachm, but struck in the Phoenician weight standard, these do weight similar to the shekel, but it is wrong to call it that, it is like calling all the tetradrachms from the Ptolemies a shekel.

The article makes me cringe. Next to that they identify this as "Melqart", "According to the expert, this is is an exceptionally rare discovery.". What kind of experts say this is exceptionally rare? Demetrios II and other Seleukid kings who struck the eagle-type are common coins, especially from Tyre, and only hoards of these types were found in Phoenicia where this weight standard was predominantly used. So it is actually a common and expected discovery in that area of the world.

Here is my "exceptionally rare shekel":


Alexander I (Balas). 152/1-145 BC. AR Tetradrachm. Tyre mint. Dated SE 167 (146/5 BC).
Obverse: Diademed and draped bust of Alexander Balas right.
Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY (“of King Alexander”). Eagle standing left on prow of galley, palm-branch over right shoulder; club surmounted by monogram to left, ΙΞΡ (date) and monogram to right.
Reference: SNG Spaer 1545-1546; Newell, Tyre 79; Houghton 749.
13.73g (Phoenician standard)

 

@Pavlos I'd give your post a half-dozen 'Like's' if I could. (3 for the well-expressed content and its veracity, and 3 just for that spectacular Alexander Balas tetradrachm!)

 

And the found Shekel of Melqart aka the Demetrios II tetradrachma

 

There have been many Seleucid tetradrachms of Demetrios II and Antiochus VII from Tyre appearing on Israeli dealer sites over the past few months. I wonder if a hoard has hit the market?

Here's a recent purchase of one of these coins, Antiochus VII:

Antiochus VII Sidete, tetradrachm, Tyre mint, 130/29 BC.

14.0 grams



There also seems to be an influx of Ptolemaic tetradrachms, particularly those of Ptolemy I and Ptolemy II, usually with a good number of scratches and graffiti as seems normal for these coins.

 

Demetrios II Ar Tetradrachm Sidon 141-140 BC Obv. Bust right diademed and draped. Rv Eagle wings folded standing left Houghton Collection 718 This coin illustrated SC 1954.6b This coin illustrated HGC 969 This coin illustrated. 13.56 grms 25 mm Photo by W. Hansen I bought this coin in 1998. I have looked for an auction record of this coin as I know that Houghton had disposed of it a number of years before I had purchased it. I would really love to know when and where. Thus I have owned it long before it became the plate specimen in both SC and HGC.
The history of these coins is rather interesting. For about a century the region was under the control of the Ptolemies thus they used the Ptolemaic standard tetradrachms. However in 199 BC Antiochos III took the region from the Ptolemies and established Seleukid rule. Oddly about 50 years later the Seleukids start minting these tetradrachms at the old Ptolemaic standard employing a reverse type which would be familiar to those from that region.

 

@Terence Cheesman That is a lovely tetradrachm! The detail remaining is wonderful. The portrait seems more expressive than most. I love the heftiness of the Sidonian eagles on their tetradrachms. I hope you are eventually able to find evidence of its sale at auction prior to your acquisition of it.

Thanks for sharing information about the changing weight standards. Interesting!

 

Since the Hebrew word, shekel was originally a weight, was that term ever applied to coins of similar weight to the Melqart coin we presently designate as the most likely to have been the Judas' coin? Or were tetradrachmas of Tyre, regardless of the ruler, also called shekels in Judea?

 

@kevin McGonigal
Two great questions! I cannot tell you how very much I would like to know the answers. Perhaps someone will be able to present concrete answers.

However, from my study notes I have the following 4 points which somewhat relate:

I have a quote from Wikipedia’s article on the Tyrian Shekel (yes, I know Wikipedia is not considered a stellar citation in the academic world) that the shekel was considered a tetradrachm by Greeks.

I have a note that Ya’akov Meshorer supported the idea that the late Seleucid tetradrachms and didrachms issued in Tyre would have been accepted at the Temple in Jerusalem.

Hoard evidence such as the Qumran Hoard of Silver Coins and others show that large groups of Shekels (Shekalim) included Seleucid tetradrachms of Antiochus VII and Demetrius II.

A key determining factor on what was acceptable at the Temple was whether or not it was "Tyrian silver" due to the very high silver purity known to be the content of silver coinage struck at Tyre in those days.

 

Thanks for posting those sources. My own feeling is that since the mint was the same, Tyre, and the weight and fineness of the coins with Melqart or a Seleucid monarch, at that time , mid Second Century BC, being equal, that the two passed current equally. The designs are similar, so much so that just examining one coin from another takes some ID proficiency. Handling large numbers of them at the same time may have facilitated accepting both without that much of an examination. Merchants and priests may have had weight and fineness in mind and not too much else.

 

During the later half of the second century BC to the first half of the first century BC most of the cities on the Levantine coast broke away from the crumbling Seleukid Kingdom. Many of these cities subsequently began to mint silver tetradrachms and their fractions but only three, Askalon Tyre and Sidon minted coins on the old Ptolemaic standard. This is a map that I had created but never used to illustrate this phenomenon.
Only the mints shaded in light purple used the old Ptolemaic standard though by now even that was reduced. To show that they continued with that standard they employed the standing eagle reverse. However by the mid first century BC both Askalon and Sidon gave up on the production of silver coins though Sidon did mint some drachms intermittently up to mid first century AD. Thus only Tyre appears to mint silver which it did up to about circa 65/66 AD. As this was really the only regional silver coin available in any number, coupled with the fact that the purity remained high, the coin was accepted.
Tyre Ar Tetradrachm 114/113 BC Obv head of Herakles-Melkart laureate with slight drapery around neck. Rv Eagle standing left wings folded on prow of galley. HGC 357 Cohen DCA Tyre 2.13 This coin illustrated 14.29 grms 28 mm Photo by W. Hansen I have seen some research attempting to show that the image of Herakles Melkart was derived from some of the earlier Seleukid royal portraits but to be honest I really cannot see it.

 

That is a very interesting map.

I wonder if the coin below could have emanated from one of those mints. Who knows? Not a whole lot is known about these enigmatic coins.

Here's an imitative tetradrachm from the Levant or Arabia, probably from the mid 4th century BC.

13.8 grams


Moving forward, here's my shekel of Tyre, purchased from CNG back in the 1990s.

Year 138 (12/13 AD)

RPC 1 Supplement 4654C

14.32 grams