In the midst of yet another COVID variant wave, with the accompanying need to isolate as much as possible, at least until I get the booster in early January, it is always nice to have interesting coins come through the mail slot, a pleasant and sometimes costly diversion. I have lots of owls, both Athenian and from other sources. This owl, which was described as Athenian, and listed as such with other owls, is, actually an eastern imitation, possible of pharaonic origin, late 5th to mid 4th centuries BC. These categories are huge catchalls for a wide range of owls that do not fit the basic features of Athenian classic and intermediate owls. As such they are categories with many grey areas, especially for coins that closely mimic the owls originating from Athens. The coin below comes close to achieving the general "look" of a classical Athenian owl, but there are features that set it apart. For comparison I'm also posting an Athenian classical owl, circa 440-405 BC. The new eastern imitation owl 17.35 grams Athenian Owl 17.23 grams The main differences for the obverse are the treatment of the stem or tendril looping towards the helmet's neck guard, the Athenian owls forming a straight line with a short extension ninety degrees downward. The imitation has two parallel lines, the top line slightly curved. Another difference is the treatment of the laurel leaves running along the rim of the helmet. The Athenian owl's leaves showing much more detail and refinement. The shape of the eye, a nearly perfect almond shape on the Athenian owl, becomes more asymmetrical on the imitation. The hair on the imitation is somewhat more coarsely engraved compared to the Athenian owl. On the reverse, the owls differ in style, with the imitation owl more stilted and elongated. The "A" of the ethnic on the imitation, and the olive branch on the imitation also differ from the Athenian version. This imitation has a mate, offered recently Numismatik Naumann in a recent auction, where is was described as an eastern imitation. https://www.biddr.com/auctions/numismatiknaumann/browse?a=914&l=964386 It appears to be a die match, both obverse and reverse, with the primary distinction being the doubling on both sides (my coin had some doubling on the reverse), and slight differences in centering, with the Naumann coin showing more of the obverse crest. Otherwise, they appear to be sisters. So, I would always like your opinions, and please post your owls, die matches, or anything else. Happy holidays!
That's a very nice imitative! Also sharp how you picked it out as a misattribution and presumably paid less for it. Here's one I picked up recently. I'd been after an eastern mint owl for some time. There's considerable debate whether there existed one, two, or three "Sophytes" and which one(s) minted what. So, regardless how many Sophytes there are, I'm covering them all with this coin. Sophytes, 'Athenian Series' AR TetradrachmUncertain mint, circa 323-240 BCE 16.48g, 21mm, 1h. Attic standard. Head of Athena to right, wearing earring, necklace, and crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves over visor and a spiral palmette and grape bunch on the bowl / Owl standing to right, head facing; olive sprig and crescent behind, AΘE before; all within incuse square Cf. Bopearachchi, Sophytes Series 1A; cf. Roma XIV, 341 corr. (grape bunch on rev.) Ex 1960s Andragoras-Sophytes Group Ex Roma
Thanks Actually that coin sold for about what similar owls were selling for, in the range of £450 to £550. Some astute bidders were able to buy nice owls at the £300 to £400 level. Of course, there's also the 20% buyer's commission plus exchange rate that adds to the cost, so that owl came to around $925. I suppose that is a fairly decent price, but I wasn't focusing on that primarily, as I was as a nice imitation. That Sophytes owl that you won is a really hard coin to obtain these days, as the auction competition for them seems to be getting more and more intense. Nice coin! This is a Bactrian owl, circa 261-239 BC, that I got out of Roma XX. Needless to say, the bidding was pretty stiff, and I feel lucky to have won it through a live floor auction. The coin doesn't have the most perfect surfaces possible, but I never have trouble with that. In fact I like coins that have deposits and imperfections - after all, they're ancient! 16.64 grams
Thanks. Yes, this imitation does have one of the better style portraits that I've seen. The quality can vary greatly, much the same way that the earlier Athenian owl portraits were more carefully and artistically created, compared to most of the other owls produced towards the last two decades or so of the 5th century BC.
Attica, Athens AR tetradrachm Obv: Helmeted head of Athena right Rev: Owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig to left, crescent behind, AΘE to right, all within incuse square Date: 454-404 BC Ref: SNG Copenhagen 31 Size: 17.19g, 24mm Attica, Athens AR drachm Obv: Helmeted head of Athena right Rev: Owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig to left, crescent behind, AΘE to right, all within incuse square Date: 454-404 BC Ref: Sear SG 2527 Attica, Athens AE15 Obv: Helmeted bust of Athena right Rev: Two owls facing on thunderbolt, AΘE below, all within olive wreath Date: 130-90 BC/166-57 BC Ref: Kroll Agora 99; Svoronos pl. 24.60-68; Kleiner Type 16 (attribution information from Wildwinds.com)
Yes, generally speaking imitations such as the OP coin fall within the end of the 5th century BC, with the fall of Athens in the Peloponnesian War, the accompanying interruption of owls from that source, and the production of imitations in Egypt and elsewhere to make up the shortage, to the middle of the 4th century BC and the rise of Macedon and eventually Alexander III, whose massive coinage dominated the Mediterranean and other regions until the rise of the power of Rome. Having said this, the date range of this coin may change as additional information, particularly from hoard discoveries revises the chronology of these coins.
Your tetradrachm is an imitation, sure, mainly because of the ornament on the helmet's neck guard which is obviously unathenian. Of course nobody can tell from where it comes : it does not fit the Buttrey categories M, B or X, which are Egyptian. Athenian owls have been imitated elsewhere too, in the Philistian zone but also in Asia Minor.
I wish that the Athenians had been as good as the Arkansasians (<- That surely can't be right!) at getting Athena's nose, crest, and neck onto the obverse of their coins at the same time! I plan to get an Owl for my collection one day (whatever the most common Athenian variant is). However, considering the apparent abundance (piles of them in every auction), the going rates seem to be more than a bit out of whack. I mean, I know that they are near the pinnacle of demand when it comes to ancient coins, but could the demand really be that high? Nearly every person that I know wouldn't even know what an Athenian Owl was unless I told them about it.
