I paid a premium for this coin, but it was worth the cost. This is one of the nicer imitation tetradrachms that I have seen in a while - good metal, centering, high relief and overall good styling, especially with the obverse. It came in a NGC slab, graded XF. They rate it 4/5 in strike and 4/5 for surface. I don't subscribe to this system of rating, preferring a more descriptive approach, but it a very nice coin. Near East or Egypt Circa 5th-4th Centuries BC AR Tetradrachm 16.69 grams Types of Athens Obv. Athena. Rv. owl standing
Thank you. I do have a weakness for this type. It seems that as I get older, I'm attracted to more esoteric coins.
Yes, I am certain that this coin originated in Egypt or the region (I'd put my money on Egypt). Have you looked at the current Roma Numismatics auction? They have quite a few owls available. I have acquired quite a few owls over the years, far more than I probably need, but this type of coin, coupled with the history of Athens, and her economic dominance over a wide swath of the Eastern Mediterranean, has always been of great interest to me, primarily due to my general interest in history, and how all of the interconnections of events have led us to the present day. I am currently reading Edith Hamilton's The Greek Way and plan to move on to her other classic work, The Roman Way.
Here is my Egyptian imitative of the type:- Egypt, Athens Imitative, Silver tetradrachm Obv:– Head of Athena right, droopy eye, crested helmet with olive leaves and bent-back palmette, wire necklace, round earring, hair in parallel curves. Rev:– ΑΘΕ, right, owl standing right, head facing, erect in posture, olive sprig and crescent left, all within incuse square; Minted in Egypt from . B.C. 420 - 380. Reference:– cf. SNG Cop 31 ff., SGCV I 2526 (Athens), Ex- Forum Ancient Coins where they graded it VF. The metal did not fill the die completely on the obverse resulting in the rough flat high area near Athena's temple. A test cut on the reverse was filled with pitch in antiquity. The silver is quite bright making it relatively tricky to photograph. From the Harald Ulrik Sverdrup Collection. Ex CNG. From a small hoard of 5 Athenian and 4 Athenian imitative issues. Comment provided by Forum - "Athenian tetradrachms with this droopy eye and bent back palmette have been identified as Egyptian imitative issues because they are most frequently found in Egypt and rarely in Greece. Early in his reign the Egyptian Pharaoh Hakor, who ruled from 393 to 380 B.C., revolted against his overlord, the Persian King Artaxerxes. In 390 B.C. Hakor joined a tripartite alliance with Athens and King Evagoras of Cyprus. Persian attacks on Egypt in 385 and 383 were repulsed by Egyptian soldiers and Greek mercenaries under the command of the Athenian general Chabrias. Perhaps these coins were struck to pay the general and his Greek mercenaries." 17.157g, 25.3mm, 270o
That's a very nice example. Here's another recent arrival. This coin, too, is from Egypt, very similar to yours. This coin seems to have additional designs on the obverse, at 3 o'clock. As far as I can determine, so far, the additional elements are a bird (ibis?) above, an amphora (below), to the left, an animal (lion?), and to the left of that, the Greek letter for "g". This coin weighs 17.0 grams, and came from Israel in 2014, according to the seller. The coin was cleaned, unfortunately, and it has a countermark on the reverse as well as small scratch running parallel to the owl's wing. I'm still trying to figure out what else is going on with the obverse. I do not think this is a case of die rust. The designs seem intentional and are part of the die, not a counterstamp. Overall, this is an interesting owl.
