Metallurgical Analysis of Southern Palestinian Coins of the Persian Period

Abstract

By means of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES),
metallurgical analyses of southern Palestinian coins of the Persian period were
performed. The main group of analyzed coins consists of dome-shaped quarter sheqels
(“drachms”), which were struck from worn, recut and repolished obverse dies that based
on their circulation were defined as Edomite. In addition, several Philistian coins were
analyzed as a reference group. Our results suggest that much of the silver bullion used for
striking the Edomite and Philistian coins originated in the Greek world, most probably
from Athenian ‘owls’ and that Edomite coinage was probably produced by a central
Philistian minting authority based on identical silver content.