Greek owl- I joined the club

Frank Robinson has a couple of "Owls" in his current auction at one third the price.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

There was a hoard of hundreds of Attic owls discovered in 2010 in Rafah (Gaza strip). It contained several kinds of owls. Here are some examples :

Athens (?), probably bona fide Attic owl of the late 5th c. BC :


Egypt, Buttrey-A type.
These owls are mostly found in Egypt and must have been minted there in the last years of the 5th c. and the beginning of the 4th c., because Athenian production was interrupted since 412.


Egypt (?), Buttrey-Flament X type, mid-4th c. BC (?).
The palmette (on the helmet) seems influenced by the Pi-style.


Athens, "Lentini" type, early 4th c. BC.
The portrait of Athena is executed in a more realistic manner, closer to the standards of classical Greek art. The eye is seen from profile and the coin is struck on a cast flan, as usual. This kind of Attic owl is rare because most of the owls produced in the 1st half of the 4th c. were recalled in 353 to the Athens mint, folded and re-struck. Of course the coins that had already been hoarded, or who circulated far from Athens, were not re-struck. A hoard found in Lentini, Sicily, and well dated by other coins to the beginning of the 4th c., contained several examples of these Attic owls.


Probably Athens, 1st half of the 4th c. BC.
A little less elegant than the "Lentini" types, there owls are still struck on cast flans. They pre-date the great restriking of 353.


Athens, Pi III-IV type.
In 353 an Athenian law recalled all tetradrachms in circulation to the city mint. The coins were heated, folded, hammered, and restruck with dies of a new style. This specimen is truck on a folded flan. The palmette looks like the letter pi (π), this is why it's called "pi-style".


imitation (from Egypt or some other place in the Middle East). This coin imitates the Pi-III - IV style, but is struck on a beautiful round cast flan.

 

The final series of owls, known as new style owls, were minted in the second to first centuries BC. They feature broad flans, a Hellenistic style for Athena and the owl, and the presence of the magistrates on the reverse, often so crowded that not all information appears on the flan. The reverses on new style owls following the early issues have a symbol and control characters. Additionally, there is a dating system on the reverse amphora used based on the Athenian calendar.

These owls are much scarcer compared to the earlier standardized ones. They were produced in lower numbers, it appears, and hoard occurrences are more limited. These coins were produced during the rise of the Roman Republic. Following the siege and fall of Athens by the Romans and allies in 86 BC, Sulla produced his own owls from 86-84 BC. These coins are rare and often very crude. Following Sulla the minting must have fallen off severely, with production ending after approximately 42 BC. The Athenian owl's storied dominance became part of history, replaced by the Roman denarius.

Here are a few new style examples:

Attica, Athens, new style owl, 133/2 BC.
Thompson 368 - 382
17.0 grams


Attica, Athens new style owl, 131/30 BC.
Thompson 396 - 403
16.8 grams


Attica, Athens, new style owl, circa 115/4 B.C.
Thompson 639c
16.7 grams


Attica, Athens, new style owl, 91/0 BC. Roma seated.
Thompson 1123
16.56 grams


Attica, Athens, new style owl, 86-84 AD. Minted under Sulla.
Thompson 1303a
24mm; 16.43 grams
ΛAYPIA M[E]TAΛΛA monograms on reverse.

 

Yes, I've seen them!
However, Frank is noting there that comps for those two have sold for over $9,000 USD!

AND they don't appear as nice as the one I mentioned.

I must be missing something...

 

I just joined the club too, though my owl has quite the headache. haha



Attica, Athens
AR Tetradrachm
454-404-BC
Helmeted head of Athena right
AθE, Owl standing right, facing, olive sprig and crescent behind
Large test cut
15.60 g.
24 mm.

 

Solidus Numismatik (Munich) has lately auctioned 45 owls in Auctions 142 and 143. Some could be late 5th c. BC bona fide Attic issues, but most are Buttrey B types (with the palmette looking like a croix de Lorraine), likely minted in Egypt in the first half of the 4th c. BC. All have been circulated and have countermarks on Athena's cheek, sometimes on the reverse too. These owls were not expensive, and many unsold.
It is obvious that these so homogeneous 45 coins come from a recently found hoard. Because most of them are Buttrey B types, which are frequent in Egyptian hoards but rare in Greek hoards, it is likely that this hoard was found in Egypt or near Egypt (why not the Gaza strip?). The countermarks are interesting : in several cases similar ones have been noted on owls from other hoards, some found in Iraq.
It is highly probable that this hoard contained more than these 45 owls. Is Solidus Numismatik preparing its Auction 144 including two more dozens of these coins?

 

There has been an influx of what I guess falls under the umbrella of eastern imitation or pharaonic owls over the past few years. It seems that they are generally coming from Syria, but they could be from other locations in the region. Due to the lack of documentation on these hoards, anything specific is virtually impossible to obtain for various reasons.

These coins are quite a challenge to classify, but there are some distinct types, such as Buttrey B types and Buttrey X types. There are also owls that seem to be hybrid styles types, the miscellaneous owls.

Here are some photos of lots offered for sale over the past few years.

2019. These owls came out of Syria, I was told. All seem to be Athenian transitional and standardized types. They were offered as a lot only.



Back in June 2021 I was shown a group of these Syrian owls by an Israeli dealer. The photos show only the obverses.
In April 2023, another group emerged of Athenian owls which are a combination of nice transitional standardized owls and a couple of archaic owls in very nice condition. They show signs of "find" surfaces so I assume they came from a hoard, location unknown. Again they were offered as a lot only - no cherry picking.


In 2024 another group of owls was offered by another dealer. All are very likely pharaonic types.


So the conveyor belt from the Middle East continues to provide more owls to the market.

 

It is interesting, IMO, to note that these lots of 5th c. BC Athenian owls apparently show no countermarks or test cuts. Unfortunately we may never know if the 2019, 2021 and 2023 lots are parts of the same hoard.
The 2024 lot (9 coins) is entirely composed of early 4th c. Egyptian Buttrey types. Buttrey B for the 7 first ones, Buttrey X for the two on the bottom right (see the owl's claws). This lot is completely different, I haven't seen a single Buttrey type in the 2019-2023 lots.

 

Yes, it is impossible to know whether the hoards are coming from one source or more than one. The common thread seems to be Syria, which makes sense, since earlier hoards, notably the 1989 hoard, came from that country. Mixed into all of this are individual finds from the region: Jordan, Israel, West Bank and Gaza. Even there attribution is tenuous at best. Does a Jordan attribution by a seller mean that the coin was acquired from a Jordanian source, or was the find location Jordan, or both?

It also appears evident that coins found in Syria, including owls, enter Jordan before arriving in Israel. Given the tragic history of war and unrest in the region this is to be expected, I think. Indeed there might be a correlation between conflicts and the rise in the number of coins found in hoards and individually that in turn enter the market.

 

ATHENS FRACTIONAL OWLS - AR & AE


Athens Attica
454-404 BCE
AR HemiDrachm
16mm 2.08g
Athena frontal eye -
facing Owl wings closed olive branches
COP 70 SG 2528



Athens
340-317 BCE
AE 12
Athena attic helmet R-
Double bodied Owl with head facing E olive sprigs kalathos R
BMC 224

 

OWLS:

Everybody's Got These...

But, I enjoy my bankers marks...means they have been AROUND!


Athens Owl AR Tet 17.4g 20.4mm x 7.5mm Late Classical 393-300 BC, Sear 2537, SNG Cop. 63 edge-crud

(OOPS! Lost her head...)

Athens Owl AR Tet 17.2g 22mm x 6.7mm thick Late Classical 393-300 BC, Sear 2537, SNG Cop. 63

(This one is sitting on her Egg)

Athens Owl AR Tet 17.3g 22.9mm x 6.8mm thick Late Classical 393-300 BC, Sear 2537, SNG Cop. 63 crud

(BAMM! Right between the eyes...)

Athens Owl Tet 16.8g 22x6-5mm Late Classical 393-300 BC, Sear 2537, SNG Cop. 63