Owl Coin, 4th century BCE

The owl, the symbol of Athens, appears on this coin, and on the reverse side we see a male head with beard and oriental hairdress. On the left side of the owl is the letter aleph (“A”); on his lower right is the letter nun (“N”) (both in old-Hebrew). Aleph and nun may stand for Ashkelon, the city on the Mediterranean shore, north of Gaza, where this coin was minted.

The Holy Land in Coins, Yaakov Meshorer, BAR Mar 1978.