Owl upgrade & my first EF ancient

A fair price is relative, based on: 1) what you can afford, and 2) what's an appealing example for you. Factor 1 is easy to determine, but factor 2 has more elements to it, including period (Starr groups, early transitional mass production, mass production), the quality of the dies, strike, wear, flan shape and surface conditions, including toning, patina, horn silver deposits and visible corrosion.

I think, if you are just buying an owl for type, you want to look for a coin that has wide appeal, one that has a certain presence. For me that means style over grade. I am much more included to buy a coin at a lower grade, if it appeals to me in artistry and execution of strike, over a higher grade coin that has lower appeal.

Here is a coin that I purchased recently for $800. It is a mass production owl and it was struck on a very oblong flan that barely accommodates the elements of the obverse die, but what a die! In terms of conveying the Athenian state, it serves that purpose very well. The crest is missing, and a small part of the nose is off the flan, but the obverse style is fine. There are many other such examples out there, many of which includes part or all of the crest and sometimes the necklace and neck guard.


Now, getting back to your question, I think you could get a nice VF mass production coin for around $500-$600 or so.

I am not promoting or guaranteeing the authenticity of the following coins. These are coins currently available online:

This is an owl that has not been slabbed, on offer by a seller from Germany, who is accepting offers.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tetradrach...319430?hash=item56dc9acac6:g:SoEAAOSwvjVe0U4l

Here's a slabbed owl, somewhat crude but fairly well centered, (you could try to negotiate a lower price with this seller - I've had some luck in the past).
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ancient-At...794986?hash=item216bb2b66a:g:igUAAOSwNTheVHkH

This is a "budget" owl ($300) listed on VCoins. The centering is good, but there are counterstamps on the reverse, which generally don't bother me, and a possible countermark on the obverse.
https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/ke...04_bc_silver_tetradrachm/1287031/Default.aspx

 

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Thank you for the thorough response. Very helpful. You got a nice example there, congrats! I don't really mind the marks/stamps either and especially so if it makes the coin cost a lot less.

 

I've actually become very interested in the countermarks. It is not easy studying them, but the results can be rewarding. In the past I've identified some as being Egyptian or Levant in origin.

These tetradrachms were basically trade coins that were used over a vast swath of the Eastern Mediterranean and further east, often locally imitated.

 

Very fascinating, one such mark on the "budget" one sorta looks like a Hebrew letter.

 

Possibly, or Aramaic or Phoenician (closely related to Aramaic). Possibly a heth.

 

The profile eye pi-style owls are a fascinating group to collect, and relative to the archaic style eye, offer better value. If you're patient you should be able to locate a nice example at a lower price compared to a mass production owl.

The archaic eye does appear a bit buggy-eye since it is the full eye, normally viewed from the front, is located on the side of the head instead and its missing the pupil as well. However, this is how the archaic eye is depicted in art, especially from the 5th century and back, as you can see from this photo, the Apollo of Veii, c. 510-500 BC:



Athens continued to produce her coinage using the archaic eye well past the point when other mints, notably in Sicily, were producing coins with the profile eye in the middle of the 5th century.

 

Here's an example to illustrate the final point, a tetradrachm from Lucania, Thurium, southern Italy, 443-400 BC:

 

Nice!

 

I thought I would tag onto this thread as it is my first and probably only Owl that turned up today. It is my only Greek coin and way outside of my Republican and 1st and 2nd Century interests but there were many compelling reasons why I wanted one. My late mother was keen on Owls and people used to buy her ornaments and bits and pieces that were Owl related, I have Tawny Owls in front of my house and I hear them at night, the use of them is related in a couple of Christian Cameron works of historical fiction and finally I have been following these threads with interest. All pretty random stuff but I have been low bidding on them for some time in the hope of picking one up at a reasonable price. I won this in last weeks DNW auction and with all the bits it worked out at about $560 which I was happy with. Description is Good Very Fine which pleases me as I can romantically consider it may have had some use other than being part of a hoard. Weight is 17.15 g ,Sear 2526. Olive sprig to the left of Athena. I am experimenting still with photography and took several images and every one could have been a different coin! That is work in progress for me.
I didn't see the email invoice but called them yesterday at 3 pm and paid for it and it arrived in the mail this morning, processed and packed in 2 hours. I was amazed as they had an auction in progress as well yesterday. Despite what you may have heard, in the UK the postal service is working better than ever, possibly because of reduced traffic. I have always enjoyed rapid shipping with DNW and commend them for it. View attachment 1129013 View attachment 1129013 View attachment 1129014 View attachment 1129015 View attachment 1129016 View attachment 1129013 View attachment 1129014 View attachment 1129015 View attachment 1129016

 

Err, I don't know what I did then and apologise for too many images. If the moderator can remove any surplus feel free to do so. I have edited it because the first posting showed a duplication of every image.