While not one of those flashy mint state owls touted for their "5 out of 5" NGC ratings, or for their complete, nearly complete, or nearly nearly complete crests, this one made the trek from Athens to Phoenicia, in the 5th century BC, where it plainly served its role as the medium of exchange among traders and merchants of the period. This coin has pretty good centering, and it is one of those transitional standardized classical owl produced in the 450s. The portrait, although worn, is pleasant. The important feature of this coin is the clear countermark on the obverse, a Phoenician "mem". So, this coin must have passed through a merchant's hands, receiving his or her countermark, or it might have been countermarked for authorization to circulate in a city or other jurisdiction. 17.15 grams This coin was purchased from Marcos Xagoraris, a dealer based in the Baltimore area, who has some interesting coins on eBay under the name of xago. Here's the label that came with the coin:
Thanks. That is an interesting question since the Aramaic and Phoenician mem are quite similar. I always thought that the Phoenician mem was more angular and the Aramaic mem more curvey, but I guess these characters can vary since they are hand carved into the countermark die, so really I have difficulty distinguishing. My guess is that it must have circulated through Sidon or Tyre, but it also might have made it to Gaza. Its location of recovery would have shed more light, for sure. This is an owl that I posted before. It has, I think, a Phoenician "waw" on the obverse, struck on its side due to space considerations. I still haven't been able to identifiy the smaller countermark.
What an interesting coin! I love counterstamps and coins that have been used. I've purchased several coins from xago on ebay. He only lives a few miles from me and is sometimes at local shows, though I have yet to actually meet him.
Mine could be an eastern imitation of an Athenian tetradrachm or it could be an Athenian Pi-Style V owl countermarked to be used in the eastern Mediterranean. Coins began to be minted in the Holy Land itself about 400 BC or shortly thereafter. The first ones were struck in Gaza. Naturally enough, they imitated Athenian and Phoenician coins, and had Greek and oriental symbols. Since I am not sure, I attributed it as Philistia, Palestine, eastern imitation from Gaza (ca. 353 - 333 BC), countermarks ει (Aramaic) Kroll 15b-f (?) 19 x 24 mm, 17.113 g Ob.: Head of Athena r., wearing helmet decorated with three olive leaves and a curling palmette. Hair in two even loops across brow and temple, pi-style palmette on helmet. Disc shaped earring. Beaded edge to nape of helmet. Aramaic countermarks ει on cheek Rev.: Athenian owl with olive sprig and crescent moon at left and lettering ΑΘΕ at right
When I bought this Owl at auction, it was listed as having "Aramaic graffiti" on the obverse. I can't tell whether it's Aramaic or just random scratches:
Nice owl! I see what appears to be a Phoenician "nun", just below the eye. I'm not sure about the other graffiti.
Hi @gsimonel, Could it be Cypriot syllabary script? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypriot_syllabary - Broucheion
interesting I see the letter directly below the eye looks like a Cypriot -La but tough to say... if it is Kypro script one of the rare times graffito would be a nice plus!
I had considered Phoenician as a possibility. I've never heard of Cypriot syllabary or Kypro script before. Very cool. In my opinion, any of the 4 possibilities adds a lot of interest to the coin. Who wrote it? What did they write? Why did they write it? Unfortunately, it could also be just random scratches. So for now, it just falls under the "Hmm . . ." category.
This intermediate owl (not mine) has visited Cyprus! The countermark on the reverse has 3 Cypriot syllabic characters. I am not sure of the reading... This intermediate owl was very probably minted in Athens on a folded flan, i.e. after the decree of 353 BC recalling all owls at the mint, to be reminted on folded flans. After this it visited Cyprus where it got this nice countermark (apparently unpublished). Then it continued its journey to Raphia (today Rafah), where it was hoarded with others in a pottery. This probably happened before 343 and the Persian reconquest of Egypt, because in the hoard, among 350+ owls, there were no Egyptian imitations with the name of Artaxerxes or of the satrap. The pottery containing the coins was stored in some building which was set afire. The heat was so intense that molten metal in the centre of the coin squirted under pressure out of it and hit the pottery, hence this curious mushroom part silver part clay...
Now that is a very interesting countermark and history! It would have slipped by me, with my extremely rudimentary knowledge of Aramaic and Phoenician characters. I am not sure if the metal attached to the edge of the coin came from within the coin, since I would assume the coin's surface would display heat stress, such as melted or semi-melted surfaces. Could it be that the attached metal is from an adjacent coin that slowly dissolved over the centuries? Do you have the coin's weight? What a great addition to your collection!
It is not in my collection, it is in a museum in Gaza! In my collection I have an intermediate owl but with a Phoenician countermark like yours: a yodh.
