The Faces of Athena

"She struck the room, tall and straight and sudden-white, a talon of lightning in the midnight sky. Her horse-hair helmet brushed the ceiling. Her mirror armor threw off sparks. The spear in her hand was long and thin, its keen edge limned in firelight. She was burning certainty, and before her all the shuffling and strained dross of the world must shrink away. Zeus' bright and favorite child, Athena."

Thus entered an important figure in Madeline Miller's novel, Circe, a work that I highly recommend to anyone interested in Greek mythology and reading a wonderful tale of a goddess, daughter of Helios, who was banished forever to the island of Aiaia for practicing witchcraft.

I have spent a good part of my life reading history and fiction, and this is reflected in my collection, which has grow over the years to a rather massive size. Over the past recent years my interests have returned to ancients, perhaps due to old age, but certainly to an abiding love for art in general and romanticism specifically.

Here is a recent acquisition, from a recent auction. As many of you know, the ancients market has been flooded with Attica tetradrachms, primarily from the period of 454-404 BCE. The style and execution of Athena's profile have vary greatly. I find this example to be strongly expressive for a mass production tetradrachm. Indeed this could be Athena as she presented her before Circe, demanding the life of her infant son, Telegonus.

I hope to have more images of other tetradrachms to share with you in the future.

What other faces are out there?

Period: 454-404 BCE
Weight: 17.23 grams
Grade: About EF

 

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You have a nice Athena tetradrachm, @robinjojo.

Here is one with a "younger-looking" face. Although just a VF, I like it showing some crest.

 

Stunning owl tet
Here’s a forward facing Athena and a couple from Mysia:

Mysia, Pergamon
Æ19. Circa 133-27 BCE. Helmeted head of Athena right with countermark possible tripod? / Trophy consisting of helmet and cuirass. SNG France 1875-9; SNG Copenhagen 393-5; SNG von Aulock 1374. 5.94g, 18mm, Very Fine.

Mysia, Pergamon
Æ19. Circa 133-27 BCE. Helmeted head of Athena right with countermark possible tripod? / Trophy consisting of helmet and cuirass. SNG France 1875-9; SNG Copenhagen 393-5; SNG von Aulock 1374. 5.94g, 18mm, Very Fine.

 

Nice coin! It looks like one of the later transitional types, 455 BCE or so?

 

Frentani: Samnite cousins who lived on the Adriatic Coast of Italia.

Larinum Frentani 210-175 BCE AE Quincunx 22mm 9.8g Athena or Mars corinthian helmet- Galloping Horseman spear sheild tbolt 5 pellets NH Italy 625 BMC 2 SCARCE

 

RR Prv Macedon Province 168-166 BCE Tamios Quaestor Athena Cow - Eeyore

 

LOKROI

Bruttium Lokroi Eizephyrioi 300-268 BC AE 23 Athena Pegasus

 

Nice examples.

Paeonia. Audoleon (315-286 BC) also produced a facing portrait type. As shown below, from the Internet:

 

Yes, you are right. It belongs to the later transitional type. The spiral palmette is a bit different. I like the Athena face on these types better than the mass-produced classical.

 

Yes, and the engraving tends to be of higher quality. The relief is higher than the later mass produced owls as well.

The vast majority of mass produced owls seem "cookie cutter" in nature, rather flat and mostly expressionless. Perhaps this was so due to the need to produce sufficient currency to finance Athens' civil projects, as well as her role in the disastrous Peloponnesian War.

 

Here are a pair from Velia. Both are signed by Kleudoros and struck between 334-300 BC. It took me a while to find the latter (facing) example.

 

Nice owl and welcome, @robinjojo !

Apart from the well-known Athenian tetradrachm and hemidrachm, I have Athenas from Lampsakos and Cappadocia:


Attica, Athens, AR tetradrachm, ca. 440s–430s BC. Obv: head of Athena to right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves and palmette. Rev: AΘE; Owl standing right, head facing; to left, olive sprig and crescent; all within incuse square. 24mm, 17.14g. Ref: Kroll 8. Ex Leu, Webauktion 8, lot 232.


Attica, Athens, AR triobol or hemidrachm, ca. 390–295 BC. Obv: head of Athena with Attic helmet r. Rev: Owl standing facing between olive twigs, retrograde ethnic [A]ΘE around. 12.5mm, 2.06g. Ref: SNG Munich 206–7.


Mysia, Lampsakos, diobol, ca. 400–300 BC. Obv: Janiform female heads. Rev: Head of Athena right, wearing Corinthian helmet, ΛΑΜ around, fly right. 10mm, 1.2g. Ref: SNG France 1190; Baldwin 1924, group B, type I,19.


Ariobarzanes I. Philorhomaios, Kingdom of Cappadocia, AR drachm, 66/65 BC, Eusebeia mint. Obv: Diademed head right. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ APIOBAPZANOY ΦIΛOPΩMAIOY, Athena standing left, holding shield, spear and Nike; to left monogram, Λ in exergue (off flan). 17mm, 4.3g. Ref: Simonetta 1977, no. 43.

There are, of course, many more faces to Athena if you also take her Roman equivalent Minerva into account:


Claudius, Roman Empire, as, 41–54 AD, Rome mint. Obv: [TI] CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP, bareheaded head of Claudius left. Rev; S–C, Minerva walking left, brandishing javelin and holding shield. 29mm, 10.35g. Ref: RIC I, 100.


Domitian, Roman Empire, denarius, 88/89 AD, Rome mint. Obv: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM PM TR P VIII, laureate head of Domitian right. Rev: IMP XIX COS XIIII CENS PP, Minerva standing left holding thunderbolt and spear, leaning on shield. 19mm, 3.22g. Ref: RIC II (2007), 669.


Septimius Severus, Roman Empire, AR denarius, 195 AD, Rome mint. Obv: L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP V; head of Septimius Severus, laureate, r. Rev: P M TR P III COS II P P; Minerva, helmeted, draped to feet, standing l., holding spear downward in r. hand and round shield at side in l. hand. 18mm, 3.15g. Ref: RIC IV Septimius Severus 61. Ex AMCC 2, lot 451 (their picture).

 

Here's one more example from the collection, an archaic Attica tetrdrachm from circa 500-490 BCE.

This example was purchased from Dr. Busso Peus a couple of years ago.

The interesting aspect with this coin is that the owl and legend are reversed, so that the owl is leaning left, and the legend is upside down. It seems that the engraver did not transpose the letters and the owl when working on the reverse die. Instead, the die was engraved as the coin would appear in hand - quite a muddle.

Athena's portrait is crude (as is the entire coin), and I must say she has a passing resemblance to Harpo Marx.

Period: 500-490 BCE
Weight: 17.71 grams
Reference: Svoronos, Tf. 6, 24-25 Starr - Seltman, Athens, - SNG Cop. - HGC 1590 var.
Grade: Almost VF

Note: I was able to safely remove some of the horn silver, so the weight is 17.70 grams now. It also has a Sear certificate of authenticity.

 

Finally, at least for this tread, here is a controversial coin.

This coin was acquired a few years ago from a German dealer online. It is unusual to say the least. The design appears to have been patterned along the lines of an archaic Attica tetradrachm, a type that I have seen in catalogs as well as online.

First, there is the face. The nose is not archaic, nor are the eyes, which are very unusual. Then there is the crest, again not archaic in style and quite crude, as is the entire coin. The centering is good.

Second, there is the owl, which is very flat and crude. The "A" is rotated and missing the crossbar. There are raised edges and 12 and 3 o'clock. The centering is off a bit to the left.

Third, there is the flan, which weighs 16.95 grams. The width is 22.02 grams. The edges are pitted and cracked, indications that it was cast, as were all flans back then. The obverse and reverse appear to have been struck.

Fourth, condition. The surfaces are somewhat granular and the coin has been cleaned. I'd say the coin grades Fine overall.

This coin appears no where in Seltman and its unusual characteristics precludes inclusion in that work.

My opinion is that this coin is an imitation, probably Eastern. It is not one of the Bulgarian forgeries and the surfaces do show age, although I guess that could be faked with enough knowledge and effort.

David Sear thinks this coin is a 19th-20th century fake, which is could be. But I think the fabric and condition of this coin indicates an older, contemporaneous origin dating to the 5th - mid 4th centuries BCE, of Eastern origin.

I welcome any comments and opinions. Thank you.

 

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



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



Athens AE19 c 87-86 BCE Time of SULLA Athena Zeus Sear Grk 2567

 

My favorite portrait of Athena on a coin is the one on my Corinthian stater, which I've already posted in the "spear" and International Women's Day threads, so I'll refrain from doing so a third time!

So instead, here's Minerva on the reverse of a Domitian denarius:

Domitian AR Denarius 88-89 AD. Obv. Laureate head right, IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TRP VIII/ Rev. Minerva standing right w/javelin & shield, IMP XIX COS XIIII CENS PPP. RIC II-1 667 (2007 ed.), old RIC II 137 (1926 ed.), RSC II 252, BMCRE 151. 17.78 mm., 3.42 g. Ex Gorny & Mosch.




And here's my one Athenian owl -- 25 mm. and 16.79 g., with a test cut through the owl's face on the reverse, as well as what appears to be a circular banker's mark in the owl's stomach.




As I've previously mentioned, because of the test cut and banker's mark, the scratches on the obverse, and the missing final "E" and general degree of wear on the reverse, I was able to buy this coin for $325 at the 2007 NYINC -- even then, a very low price! No matter how many descriptions I read of the different types and classifications, and no matter how many images I look at, I've never been able to figure out exactly what specific category of "classical Owl" it falls into. It's definitely rather unusual in that the length of beads extending down to Athena's neck appears to come directly from the earring, rather than from behind the ear like the separate length of some other material.

 

The archaic style is way rarer than classical. There are so few examples to do comparison, but I do manage to find one on the Internet.
It is at: https://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/4535282-018/40/

I shared your suspicion about the coin. Athena's eyelids should be closed at both ends, not open. The "chin line" all the way to the ear should be deeper. The base of the crest is a bit too large also. As for the owl, I agree it shouldn't be that flat. Its feathers are a bit different compared to the NGC link example above.

Eastern imitation is possible, could be something like the Southern Arabian style we see lately. However, do you think Eastern imitation will go as far as 510 BC, before the height of the Athenian empire?

Just my thoughts. Let's hear what others say.

 

No, I don't think this coin dates from the archaic period. It is, I think, late 5th-4th centuries BCE.

David Sear noted that elements of Athena's profile appear to modern. Relative to the archaic style that is certainly true. As Athens proceeded with coin production the profile design become more refined and more modern in appearance. Going into the 4th century and up to the Roman Empire, Athens made changes to the nose, mouth, eyes hair and helmet, adopting a more natural design.

The reason, as I see it, that this coin could be imitative is that the profile of Athens incorporates refinements to the nose and mouth, again compared to the archaic style. At the same time the eye is unlike anything one would encounter with an Athenian tetradrachm from any period. They are highly stylized.

I can't say for certain that this coin was produced in this, the 20th or the 19th centuries. Elements, as previously discussed point to a much older origin.

The whole field of imitative coinage is still unfolding, with the discovery of new hoards and as new examples are sold at auction or through private sales. What is known about Athens, and her owls used throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, the Levant, Arabia, Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, Bactria, India and the Greek colonies in Italy and Sicily is that, until the rise of Alexander III, they were the sine qua non of commerce. As such they were copied, at first faithfully (more or less), but later much less so, taking on all sorts of changes to design and legend to suit the local needs of the issuing authorities.

Now, having said all of this, I think we're going to remain a square one as far as this coin is concerned, unless more information is forthcoming from other members.

Thanks for your input!

 

Thanks for the images. I have seen punch marks on the reverse, some of them truly massive.

I acquired on owl with a huge punch mark on the reverse. Oddly there was little or no metal displacement, and the coins weighs 16.5 grams. Quite odd.