Tiarate Heads on Samarian Coins

Abstract

One of the most popular motifs among Samarian coin types is the so-called ‘tiarate head,’
with some 16 Samarian issues using it. Some of them copy coins struck in other parts of the
Achemenid state. Others use the type more freely, combining it with other reverse types.
There are two main variations of the tiarate head in Samarian coinage: the head in profile and
the head in three-quarter view. Based on details of tiara representations, one can distinguish
six variants of the first type. The prototypes for most of them should be sought in the satrapal
coinages of northwestern Asia Minor and Cilicia. Only one variant was likely to have been
introduced in Samaria.