Ancient Greece (Phonecia) Shekel of Tyre 126BC to 65AD

That is Melqart, god of the Phoenician city of Tyre, on the front of this nice silver coin. On the eagle side, you can see the Greek inscription TYPOY (IEPAX) for the city of Tyre. A vertical club is found to the left of the eagle.

These coins date from before Christ to after, and come in two basic denominations:

SHEKEL: about 14 grams, about 28 mm diameter
HALF SHEKEL: about 7 grams, about 22 mm diameter

Numismatists who study these intriguing coins understand the dating system and the minting system, which appear to the left and right of the eagle. But those details are beyond CoinQuest's scope and do not affect value too much. What does affect value is condition and overall eye appeal.

The coin in our picture comes from Heritage Auctions where it sold for $1500 US dollars during a 2015 auction. This is an unusally high price because of the detail and beauty of the piece. Our approximate catalog values below adjust downward from this Heritage piece, because it is so special. A large close-up appears below, so you can see the detail

Very approximately:

HALF SHEKEL
worn: $300 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $400
well preserved: $800

SHEKEL
worn: $400 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $600
well preserved: $1200

These are catalog values. Use our Important Terminology page to understand how to use catalog values.

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