Well, here we go again. This is a new coin, one that was described as Athenian in nature. I tend to differ. First, the palmette on the obverse is of an unusual style, unlike anything that I've seen from Athens, with its large extended end and oversized nature. Additionally the lower stem is much longer that what is normally seen in Athenian owls, almost touching the base of the crest. Then there is something going on to the right of the eye. I don't think it is a die break or die rust, although die rust is present at the lower part of the helmet's bowl and there appears to be some at the lower part of the character. Could this be an engraved character? What could it be? On the reverse, the owl is close to what one would expect of an Athenian coin, but the style is different overall, particularly with the dots comprising the breast feathers. The overall condition of the coin is not bad, but there is some horn silver on the obverse along with some other deposits and a few minor corrosion spots. The reverse is spic and span. I believe that this coin is an imitative owl, eastern mint, late 5th-mid 4th centuries BC. 17.16 grams Can the CT members with experience with Aramaic and related languages of the Levant help decipher this possible character on the obverse, if indeed that is what it is. Thanks
I sincerely can't tell. I'm like @ominus1, for me it looks like a bona fide Athenian coin. The irregularities left of the eye and on the neck do not look like semitic letters; if somebody had wanted to add a mint-mark he would have made it more conspicuous.
Thanks I would be inclined to agree, except for the atypical treatment of the palmette which is stylistically dissimilar to the style of the mid to late classical owls produced by Athens from around 440 to 406 BC. Regarding the obverse, while the palmette does become larger and less refined, moving from the transitional classical owls to the standardized owls, the palmette on the OP coin is even larger, with a very long central tendril. Also, the spacing of the olive leaves on the helmet are clustered rather oddly, in an idiosyncratic way, bunched together towards the front, rather than more evenly spaced. The treatment of the earing is different. Further, the overall style of Athena's portrait just doesn't seem to fit the styles that I have seen for Athenian owls. as varied as they are, especially as production ramped up in the 440s and 430s. The reverse of the OP coin does mimic the Athenian style pretty successfully. Compare it to the last standardized owl, and without looking at it closely, it would pass as the reverse of an Athenian owl. But a closer view shows some differences, such as the wider body on the OP coin as well as the heavier treatment of the owl's legs and talons. Here are few standardized classical owls for comparison. The last coin is a late standardized owl, probably issued in the last decade of the 5th century. And the OP coin: Since the early imitative owls generally come very close to the original design of the classical standardized owls, this coin, I think, in all probability is an eastern mint product, produced in the late 5th to mid 4th centuries BC. The rust buildup next to the eye on the obverse could very well be just that. Thanks again!
When attributing classical Attic owls, it is always difficult to judge from the style. Flament insisted on the fact that in the end of the 5th c., Athens being involved in the Peloponnesian war, the owl production was enormous and Athenians had to hire many celators, thus it is always possible that some differences in the style may come from the personal style of some die-engraver. He even thought the Buttrey X owls, which look half-barbarous but which are made of laureotic silver, could well be regular Athenian coins! Your question will be answered if another owl with a similar + mark left of the eye and VS mark on the neck, but from another die, is discovered or surfaces on the market. But as long as your coin will remain a unicum it is impossible to seriously draw any conclusions.
It's not easy to say... There are elements that are not mainstream Athenian. The style of the owl is not typical. The legs of the owl seem to be too thick and actually get thicker close to the claws. Athena doesn't look strange to me. There are signs of die wear on the throat so I tend to believe that mass next to the eye is a die break rather than a symbol. Unfortunately there is no publication that I am aware of trying to discuss the new finds of the past 5 years. I don't know if anyone is working on it either. An interesting imitation was sold recently. That one has more elements to support it's classification as an imitation. As much as I was trying to sit on my hand, I couldn't resist in the end. I hope I didn't clio you, or otherwise I don't know who else collects imitations except for the 2 of us
That's a really beautiful, high grade imitation! Congratulations on the win! Actually, I think there are many collectors who collect these owl imitations, as well as other imitations. That's is really a separate subspecialty of collecting, and a fascinating one in my view. This collecting of imitations really connects the dots not only in terms of design and fabric of various imitations, but also the economic and political influences that empires had exerted on large swaths of the ancient world. Collecting owl imitations can be intensely competitive on the auction scene, with one imitative owl, from possibly Gaza, hammering at £15,000, plus 20% buyer's fee. This coin was lot 649 in Roma's Auction XIX, March 26, 2020. Here's the description and image: "Uncertain Levantine Region (Gaza?) AR Tetradrachm. Imitating Athens, circa 450/440-400 BC. Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet ornamented with three olive leaves above visor and spiral palmette on bowl, round earring with central boss and pearl necklace / Owl standing to right with head facing, crescent behind, letter before; all between two laurel branches within round incuse. Unpublished. 17.48g, 25mm, 1h. Near Extremely Fine; from dies of fine style, well centred, and lightly toned with golden iridescence. Unique and unpublished. Ex Leu Numismatik AG, Auction 3, 27 October 2018, lot 81; Ex European collection, formed before 2005. According to the atthidographos Philochorus of the 3rd century BC, the Athenian tetradrachm was known colloquially and throughout the ancient world as glaux (γλαύξ = little owl) and as ‘owl’ to modern numismatics. They circulated in prodigious numbers throughout Asia Minor and the Middle East, where non-Athenian imitative coins provide evidence for the wide popularity of ‘owls’ as a mode of payment. They can be divided into two classes: imitative copies, however competent, which were intended to circulate alongside originals, and those which make no pretense to pass as Athenian coins, but nevertheless reflect familiarity with Athenian types, as is the case with this remarkably original novelty. The obverse reproduces a slightly stodgy reproduction of Athena’s helmed head in the style of Starr group V, dated after 449 down to about 400 BC. The reverse on the other hand is a completely new rendering of Athena’s sacred bird: stepping right between olive branches - a totally new type previously unknown to numismatics. Reflections of Athenian types mainly occur in the Phoenicia-Phistelia region, some of which were certainly struck at Askalon and Gaza in the late 5th and early 4th centuries BC. There is a remarkable conceptional and stylistic similarity with this coin and the well documented Gaza issue dated to about 380 BC, with displays another original rendering of the owl, this time standing facing between laurel leaves and berries (cf. Gitler & Tal p. 116, V.5Ta, ACGC 207 and HGC 10, 532)."
I agree that another coin emerging with a similar mark would strengthen the case that the OP coin is an imitation. But the study of die styles, similarities and differences, is a longstanding tradition in ancient numismatics, a method used by Seltman and Starr, among others, so linking a given coin to Athens or another source based on stylistic differences, sometimes supported by hoard evidence, is one way to attribute the coin as Athenian or imitative, with the caveat that the research is still ongoing, and will likely continue beyond our lifetimes. I do feel comfortable, having collected owls for some time now, to attribute the OP coin as an imitation. The mark on the obverse is beyond my expertise, and it could be die rust, but on the other hand, there is a certain summitry to it, so it could be something else entirely. I did send a photo of the OP coin to Roma Numismatics yesterday, and I got this response from them today: "Thank you very much for your email, we agree with you with that this coin is more likely eastern than from the Athenian mint, there certainly appears to be a letter of figure by the eye and perhaps something on the neck also. The style would also be consistent with this theory, if you wanted to bring it in, we would be more than happy to take a closer look for you with the coin in hand." Since I am in California, I don't think I'll be visiting them any time soon. I might send the coin to them for evaluation.
