I wonder if anyone can help me with determining Starr groups II and III. Below is an example of a Starr group II that just sold at auction. Below that is what Heritage claimed was a Starr group III. They both have the three separate tail feathers and the curved hair line and the three tail feathers touch the trailing toe of the owl. The only difference I see is that the tip of the vine scroll on the II touches the laurel leaf, and on the III it does not. Is that the only difference between the two? Also, there must be a group I. What determines that group? ATTICA. Athens. Circa 475-465 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 25 mm, 17.16 g, 7 h). 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. Starr Group II. A lovely example of bold late Archaic style. Very fine. ATTICA. Athens. Ca. 465-455 BC. AR tetradrachm (22mm, 17.19 gm, 4h). NGC VF 4/5 - 4/5. Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet ornamented with three laurel leaves and vine scroll / AΘE, owl standing right, head facing; olive sprig and crescent moon behind, all within incuse square. HGC 4, 1594. Starr Group III.
Starr did his study many years ago. The boundaries between groups were fuzzy even then. With the hoard there are new dies and combinations that break his classification even more brutally. I posted this some time ago. Athena is II while the owl is III.
Nice II and III examples, @tartanhill. The positioning of the vine scroll seems to be the main difference between II and III on the Athena side. For Starr Group I, here is one offered by Harlan Berk. Seems very rare. https://www.ma-shops.com/harlanberk/item.php?id=797&lang=it
