Athenian Owl Tetradrachms

Aww man—right between the eyes! Poor little guy! It's still a beautiful coin!

 

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Exactly!! ... actually D-Ray, I bought this coin because of the symmetry of the cuts (yah, this baby was among my first 20 ancient coin purchases, so at the time I thought test-cuts were "cool")




Looking-back now, I probably should have waited for a better example ...

=> but it is what it is ... I love this coin!! (it's now one of the older kids in my coin-family)

 

The general style here was issued for about 200 years. Experts divide them by small details of style and fabric into quite a number of groups which vary greatly in price and scarcity. I wish I had a 'complete' set of styles to demonstrate the point but the fact is that a coin needs to be one of the recognizable styles or it is very suspect.

Pishpash is pretty close when she says the nose and crest are hard to get on the same coin and you will pay a premium for a coin with most or all the crest. The things were made in good silver so they are quite soft and wore easily. You have to decide whether you value centering, wear, surfaces or style most. A 'perfect coin in each of those respects will be very, very expensive. It is a lesson in compromise. I always say that there are three factors on common but popular coins: What you want --- When you want it --- How much you want to pay. You can select two of these as long as you are very flexible on the third. Most of us end up with coins that are not exactly what we wanted, not exactly when we wanted it and not as cheap as we had hoped. At any given time there are a thousand owls for sale somewhere. All you have to do is find the one that fits. In addition to the tetradrachms, there are smaller fractions which are much less common and much less popular so not as expensive as one might expect given their scarcity. Few beginners want anything but the tetradrachm. Test cut coins are common and unpopular. Ancient but unofficial coins exist in good silver and silver plated. I do not consider this to be a good coin for collector's new to the hobby unless they are willing to work closely with a dealer worthy of trust and willing to pay a heavy premium for these services. It will take a while to learn what you need to know to make a good selection (one that fits you, not me) all on your own.

I second TIF's suggestion that you read Reid's pages.

I do not mind wear or cuts as much as most people.

 

Would anyone like to hazard a guess on the value of this one? I am considering buying it and want to know if I am overpaying.

 

Reading them right now.

 

Some of the fractions are tiny. This coin was listed at 3.6 grams and 13 mm and I was surprised at how tiny it is in hand. I like the two owls and no test cut. My only silver of this series has a big cut through the owl.
ATTICA. Athens. Ae (Circa 322/17-307 BC).
Obv: Helmeted head of Athena right.
Rev: AΘE; Two owls standing facing one another, heads facing; all within wreath.
SNG Copenhagen 92-3; Kroll 44-7; HGC 4, 1726.

 

I studied this coin more than others and wouldn't buy one without dimples under the tail feathers.

 

Pictures??? I'm not familiar with the dimpled type. Would you not buy the coin I just posted today? It is being purchased from a well respected auction house.

 

Maybe I use my OWN terms but the "dimples" are there on your coin.

So I would buy it.

 

The small cluster of DOTS right above the tail feather

 

The reason not to buy that coin would be if you are one who wants a nose on his Athena and a tail on his owl. I would much rather than one with wear or a test cut than one missing what I consider important details but that is me, not the coin and certainly not a matter of right or wrong. The fact that they made millions of these means that we can buy what we want and walk away from what we don't.

Smaller coins also come in silver. Below is a coin that I doubt anyone reading this would have even considered buying except for me and I am most certainly weird. The coin is a 1/4 obol (a tad light at 0.15g) or 1/96 of the tetradrachm. It is clearly the worst one of the 3-4 I have seen on the market in the last several decades and not really what I wanted buy a 'settle-for' coin. You see, Athens made a 1/8 obol or half this size coin but I still don't have that one. Most I have seen offered were actually not Athenian but imitations made in the East. That does not count IMO.

The coin has a lot of the helmet crest but no face or neck whatsoever. This denomination has one crescent as a reverse type. Mine shows the Alpha and Theta rather clearly but the Epsilon was off flan. I bought it from a recently retired dealer who understood that there were a few, a very few, customers who would want the thing so he did not have it slabbed. I hope I find a 1/8 obol and will accept what I find but I I really hope it is a bit more full design.

Below is a much nicer, but huge, 3/4 obol (.50g) using the same one crescent per quarter rule. This one would be easier to sell due to its perfect centering.


Half obols (.35g) had owls:


High rollers among you may want the ten drachm piece which really makes the tetradrachms look tiny. In the late 1980's I knew a collector who owned the worst known example. It was then considered to be a $10,000 coin. Those were the good old days.
https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=96643