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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;roman99, post: 7835539, member: 92983&quot;]Acquiring an Athenian owl tetradrachm has been one of my main goals since I started collecting coins years ago. I was able to snatch up a very budget owl tetradrachm off of eBay years ago, but I was never satisfied with that coin. That tet was way too worn and ravaged by test cuts. So a few months ago, I started looking around for an Athenian owl upgrade. After weeks of browsing auctions, I came up with a budget and specific parameters for my new owl. I did not want to spend more than $500 total for my new owl. I didn&#039;t need a spectacular portrait of Athena, and I certainly wasn&#039;t aiming for a full crest tetradrachm due to my constrained budget. All I wanted for my upgrade was a serviceable portrait and a decent reverse with a clear and undamaged owl. After failures at almost a dozen auctions, I finally scored an upgrade at Heritage. I was certainly not expecting for my new owl to come from Heritage of all places, as my preconception was that Heritage tended to end up with very high hammer prices. Luckily, I scored a really nice owl, one that I am more than happy with, for a $300 hammer! After BP, taxes, and shipping, the coin cost me just under $420. My new owl has a full crest, or at least very close to a full crest, decent details that I would grade VF, a good strike with all the obverse details, except for parts of the Aegis, on flan, and in my opinion, perfect reverse strike. The one downside is a test cut on the reverse, but thankfully the test cut didn&#039;t damage any details. Heritage also described the coin as being brushed, but I do not mind that as an ancients collector. Anyways, here is my new owl!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1347028[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1347029[/ATTACH] </p><p>And here is a side by side comparison of my first Athenian owl tetradrachm, and my new upgrade!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1347030[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1347031[/ATTACH]</p><p>Finally, here is a video of the tet- [MEDIA=youtube]Cr3sOqj37FI[/MEDIA]</p><p><br /></p><p>23mm, 17.2 grams,&nbsp; HGC 4, 1597. SNG Copenhagen 31-40. Kroll 8.</p><p>Please share your Athenian owl tets, upgrades, and anything you feel apt to share![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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