My first Owl, and my first coin video

I've wanted an Athenian Owl for a very long time, really since I first started collecting, but I always felt examples I liked were a little too expensive and it's hard for me to justify diverting so much cash away from my Roman Republic coins. The recent hoard has made these coins much more affordable and after seeing hundreds(no exaggeration) of examples at NYINC, I decided it was time to get one if I could find a nice example without the retail markup. I finally managed to win this example at CNG back in March and I am extremely happy with it. I don't usually do videos, but I feel that coins like this should really be seen in-hand where one can experience the relief and heftiness, and since I can't really go anywhere or share it with anyone in-person, a video is the next best thing.



For those who prefer a photo, here's CNG's photo of this coin:

Attica, Athens, AR tetradrachm(23mm, 17.23 g, 1h) Helmeted head of Athena right, with frontal eye / Owl standing right, head facing; olive sprig and crescent to left; ΑΘΕ to right; all within incuse square. Kroll 8; HGC 4, 1597.

As always, feel free to share anything relevant

 

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Damn, that IS pretty!!!

 

Gorgeous!

 

Amazing! Congrats..
.... someday... someday!

 

wow!

 

WOW!! Very pretty. That looks like a mint state version.

I probably paid too much for my Attica in 2019 coz a lot of coins flooded the market subsequently making this beautiful coin quite common. Here is my 'not as pretty' sister of your coin:




Some of the CT members might recall an eBay listing (discussed on this forum) for this coin which was listed for like a zillion dollars because the seller claimed that it was a full crest and full earrings version. That is crazy because I think Athena is wearing stud earrings and any coin with full crest would undoubtedly have full earrings unless it was struck 50%+ off flan. Do CT members see this marked area of the coin as earrings or Athena's braided hair?

 

That is a beautiful coin @red_spork! The film really brings the coin alive, due to the different lighting which brings out the relief.
I don't own a owl, but due to the huge influx and as everyone is getting one, I am very tempted to try to obtain one as well. However, I would first need to read up on background information to know what I would be getting into. Maybe....

 

I’m really disappointed there was no singing or hooting in the video.

That said, it’s a beautiful owl. Congratulations.

 

red_spork, You scored a handsome Owl struck from fresh dies ! The CNG photo is excellent too, however, you can see they darkened it to show the details better. They do this often . 1934 Wreath Crown, The earring is a stud hanging on the ear lob, the other part you outlined is a hair braid. What grade did NGC give your coin ?

 

What a great chunk of silver! The video really shows off the heft and in-hand appeal of these owls (and I do really like the owl on yours).


ATTICA, Athens
AR Tetradrachm. 17.16g, 25mm. ATTICA, Athens, circa 430s-420s BC. Kroll 8; SNG Cop 31; HGC 4, 1597. O: Head of Athena right, with frontal eye, wearing earring, necklace, and crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves over visor and a spiral palmette on the bowl. R: Owl standing right, head facing; olive sprig and crescent to left, AΘE to right; all within incuse square.

 

Yes that's what I thought.

NGC gave it an AU* 5 and 5. I wish they had given it full crest too

 

Congrats, @red_spork ... very very nice Tet! They feel so great in-hand, don't they?

 

It seems like coins like this Athens Owl are becoming more accessible and affordable to us casual collectors. That's a nice owl btw @red_spork .

 

You're right James, I was happy to see the price drop on Owls after the huge hoard made the news . BTW, nice score on your MS Owl . Pictured below is the one I scored last year.

 

They've definitely become more affordable for those of us with more modest budgets. I bid on and made offers on several back in 2015 and never could find one I liked for less than about $1k, which is still more than I've ever spent on a coin. I'm still shocked I got this one for a reasonable price.

 

I think it's a great time to get one if you've been considering it. I don't know that anyone knows how much longer the market will be flooded with these coins, but the secret is out and everyone knows there's a hoard at this point so I can't imagine the prices will go down much further. Even if they do, I wouldn't have any regrets, I suspect the price will go back up sooner or later as these will still be extremely popular coins.

 

beautiful addition

 

I really like your Owl RS. I agree that now is a good time to look for an owl. Your coin and video of the coin are great!
I bought an owl in the last coin show I attended in Houston. The price was a bit high, but reasonable. How the coin looked in hand was what sold me.

The new coin is a bit of an upgrade over the coin I bought about a decade ago when I started collecting ancient coins.

 

When you say reasonable, are you suggesting under $1k? If so, I'd say you got a bargain on that one!

 

Great owl you got there!

I got mine from a physical shop before I became aware of the influx of cheap ones in the market, so it was one of the expensive ones..

If you are primarily a collector of Roman coins, I wonder how it feels to handle a big, bulky Athens tet in comparison with the usually flat Roman coins? Any chance it might push your interest towards Greek coins instead?