This is why this community is so awesome

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Pavlos, Jun 14, 2021.

  1. Pavlos

    Pavlos You pick out the big men. I'll make them brave!

    I have came in contact with @robinjojo regarding Athenian owls, he is a knowledgeable collector regarding these emissions and I have become very interested in the different type of owls. Mostly the transitional and archaic pieces interest me and I hope to obtain one in the near future.
    He was in able to to explain me more about these types and he introduced me to the many interesting (eastern) 'imitations', which are a lot more than I thought!

    Since I had no owl yet, @robinjojo offered me very kindly to send one of his owls for me to enjoy and learn from, which I am extremely thankful of and is a wonderful and generous act. This is what makes this coin community so awesome and different from the rest! Thank you very much again.

    After many issues at customs (which luckily resolved), I received this nice and interesting tetradrachm:
    upload_2021-6-14_23-1-57.png

    It could be an official issue from Athens, but it is also possible that this is one of those more obscure 'eastern' imitations, minted across the other side of the Mediterranean sea. Looking at how the test cut is placed, it seems that the person (perhaps a non-Greek) did not care to offend Athens nor Athena. Perhaps it was even done intentionally!

    Please share your Athenian owls and imitations.
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2021
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  3. Mat

    Mat Ancient Coincoholic

    That's very nice of him. Great coin too even with the test cut.

    [​IMG]
    Attica, Athens (353 - 294 B.C)
    AR Tetradrachm
    O: Helmeted head of Athena right
    R: AΘE Owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig and crescent to left; all within incuse square.
    16.59g
    21 mm
    Kroll -; HGC 4, 1599

    Ex. Numismatik-Naumann, Auction 52, Lot 126
     
  4. ambr0zie

    ambr0zie Dacian Taraboste

    I just received this very interesting coin. The reverse, especially, is great.
    upload_2021-6-15_0-25-30.png


    SELEUKID KINGS of SYRIA. Cleopatra Thea & Antiochos VIII. (126/5-121/0 BC) AE20 Antioch, Dated SE 190 = 123/2
    Obv: Radiate and diademed head of Antiochos VIII right
    Rev: Owl standing right on fallen amphora, head facing; IE to inner right; below, PP (date, first P retrograde) and palm.
    Legend: BAΣΙΛIΣΣHΣ KΛEOΠATPAΣ KAI BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ ANTIOXOY
    SC 2263.2f.
    6,66 gr, 20mm

    My Athenian owl is the micro version
    upload_2021-6-15_0-26-56.png


    Attica. Athens circa 454-404 BC.
    Hemiobol AR
    6 mm., 0,27 g.
    Obv. Helmeted head of Athena right. Rev. AΘΕ ; Owl right head facing, wings folded, olive-leaf and berry behind, all within an incuse square. Sear SG 2531
     
    7Calbrey, Alegandron, Pavlos and 10 others like this.
  5. Andres2

    Andres2 Well-Known Member

  6. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    CT Ancients members are truly a (test) cut above! :)

    FFIVN was gifted this beautiful owl from a fellow CTer after his emergency appendectomy last December. It is his most prized coin and has pride of place on his nightstand aka his coin display :)
    1866 5 Cents - Rays (69).png

    1866 5 Cents - Rays (60).JPG
     
  7. +VGO.DVCKS

    +VGO.DVCKS Well-Known Member

    Truly great, @furryfrog02.
    I'm tempted to pharaphrase a certain person. Oops, too late: '...for to such belongs the Kingdom of Numismatics.'
     
    7Calbrey likes this.
  8. cmezner

    cmezner do ut des Supporter

    That glorious smile is just the best, one can see his joy. Awesome!
     
  9. +VGO.DVCKS

    +VGO.DVCKS Well-Known Member

    Has to take me that much of the way back to my first ancient, at age 6. ...A Victorinus ant, mentioned somewhere here over the last week. But the gestalt is the same. ...The best of us never really 'grow up.'
     
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  10. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    Pavlos, What you say is so true ;). That generosity extends well beyond physical gift giving. Many CT members are very generous with their accrued knowledge & are willing to search for info that the casual collector would have no idea where to look.
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2021
    +VGO.DVCKS and furryfrog02 like this.
  11. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Also true. If it weren't for the members here, my son and I would never have gotten off the starting line.
     
  12. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

  13. +VGO.DVCKS

    +VGO.DVCKS Well-Known Member

    @hotwheelsearl, you got that nailed.
    Except, Really, what is that? Has a vaguely pro-Himyarite look to it.
    [Edit:] Needing those goggles.
     
    hotwheelsearl likes this.
  14. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    Some owls are more equal than others. The most common of all are the tetradrachms. I'm not sure I believe the 1/8 obol exists from the official mint at Athens but, if it does, that coin leads my want list. I have seen listed and offered many coins claiming to be that hemitartemorion. I got this 0.22g silver sliver in 1987 but the extreme erosion means that the original weight was closer to an obol or hemiobol and the style could well be Eastern. Today I call it a 'hemiobol? I have no idea.
    g41230bb0003.jpg

    I also would like to upgrade my 1/4 (tetartemorion) which I bought from Jonathan Kern. I believe he knew that I was one of few people on his customer list that would even consider buying this coin. Will I ever have one with the face on flan? Don't bet on it.
    0.15g
    g41315bb3200.jpg

    Hemiobols (1/2) are common. I imaging that there is one of them for every 10,000 tetradrachms.
    0.35g
    g41240bb2400.jpg

    Less common than hemiobols are the 3/4 obols.
    0.5g
    g41310bb0462.jpg

    Most common of all (except, of course, for tetradrachms) are the whole obols. I show this less than perfect one (my favorite kind of coin) because of dents on both sides that I believe could be made by human teeth. The possibility of Greeks of this period keeping small coins in their mouth is suggested by lines in the Wasps and the Birds by Aristophanes. Nothing is proven but I enjoy this coin. That is the advantage of being a hobbyist rather than a scholar. The draft board did me a favor keeping me from a life of taking the Classics too seriously.
    g41210wn1380.jpg

    Almost too large to be of great interest to me is this 1.98g triobol (3 obols) which is also a hemidrachm (1/2 drachm - six obols in a drachm - 6/3=2).
    g41305bb2669.jpg

    The same day in 1987 that I got the first coin in my post, I also got my one and only drachm (4.1g) from Christian Blom. It also needs an upgrade. Many of you have tetradrachms. Who has a drachm? Who wants one (besides me)?
    g41300bb0004.jpg
    I would enjoy seeing any other denominations in the silver series. Who has a dekadrachm?
     
  15. PeteB

    PeteB Well-Known Member

    AthensDr.jpg
    ATTICA, Athens. c. 430s-420s BC. AR Drachm (4.22 gm, 9h, 15mm).Obv: Head of Athena to right, wearing crested Attic helmet adorned with olive leaves and palmette turned upwards. Rev. Owl standing right with head facing; to left, olive spray; all within incuse square. SNG Copenhagen 41.
     
  16. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    ATHENS OWLS

    [​IMG]
    Athens Attica 454-404 BCE AR HemiDrachm 16mm 2.08g Athena frontal eye - facing Owl wings closed olive branches COP 70 SG 2528


    [​IMG]
    Athens 340-317 BCE BC AE 12 Athena attic helmet R- Double bodied Owl with head facing E olive sprigs kalathos R BMC 224
     
  17. +VGO.DVCKS

    +VGO.DVCKS Well-Known Member

    Oh, Wow, @Alegandron, that hemidrachm, of the high water mark of the Attic series, is Brilliant. ...If I had money for an example of the period, this kind of denomination (am I making it up, or has Somebody posted a hemiobol over the last week or two?) is where I would go first.
    Regarding the whole issue, I have to like the contrast between the still 'archaic' elements of the engraving, and how it converges with the earlier phases of Classical sculpture. You can see a similar kind of lag in the lettering on medieval European coins, relative to manuscripts. Symptomizing the attendant contrasts between the two technologies ...at one point or another.
    ...I just need All of it.
     
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  18. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    Thank you.

    I like that it is a non-tet.

    Additionally, I understand my AE12 is a more difficult to find coin as it is bronze. @zumbly has a great version.
     
    +VGO.DVCKS likes this.
  19. +VGO.DVCKS

    +VGO.DVCKS Well-Known Member

    @Alegandron, now that you mention it (...takes some of us longer), 4th c. BCE is Crazy Early for Attic AE, only more so (as a safe guess) than the later Hellenic series
    more generally.
     
    Alegandron likes this.
  20. Pellinore

    Pellinore Well-Known Member

    A fascinating thread about one of the most beloved coin types ever. I was going to add my great new addition, the Himyarite silver 'tet', a type I had never seen before, and there it is already, thanks @hotwheelsearl!

    Himy ct.jpg

    Himyarites (Arabia now Infelix), Shahar-Hilal. 1st century BC. AR Unit. Obv. Laureate male head right within wreath. Rev. Owl standing to the right on amphora (looks like a prehistoric bicycle pump); text and monograms. 6h, 25 mm, 5.44 gr. So far, I didn't look into Michiner and I don't have the standard works Malcolm-Hay or the SNG ANS.
     
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