An iconic coin and my first auction house win

I had been wanting an example of this popular type for a while now, ever since I got serious about Greek coins. But it was coming across one that was nice but out of my price range that prompted me to consciously try to find an attractive Athens owl tetradrachm that was within my budget. I figured I had a challenge ahead of me since I wanted a classical type with as full of the portrait as possible, and that was problem-free, a good style, and well-struck.

I looked at the usual spots for me (VCoins, eBay) and found a couple that I liked. But this time around I decided to check out auction venues to see if I could snag one this way. A bit of background: in my eight years of collecting I had never bought a single coin from an auction that wasn't eBay, @John Anthony, or more recently, @Bing . I browsed auctions from time-to-time, but I guess I was simply too comfortable with my usual sources to take the plunge. Fortunately, Roma Numismatics' site seemed user-friendly, and their second to last e-sale was filled with plenty upon plenty of Athens tetradrachms to choose from. I chose several that seemed like ones that I could win. As time went on this list changed, and in the end I went for and won this lovely example, which I just received in hand today (almost had to wait until Monday as I was heading home and I got the text that the mailman had passed by already, but fortunately they were still in the neighborhood and I was able to receive my package).

So, all-in-all, awesome coin, great service from Roma (thanks @Rich Beale !), and one happy camper

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



I was so excited for my purchase that I even went and bought a 1 Euro coin depicting the owl reverse



Thanks for reading, and please share your owls!

 

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Great coin! Unfortunately, I only have 1 Euro version for the time being.

 

Cool, you have the older archaic version. What a nice win. Congrats.

I want to add one of those one day. So far it's just this middle version for me...

 

Congrats on acquiring a very beautiful 'owl'. Even as a strictly imperial guy I can appreciate a coin like that!

 

A wonderful coin congrats

 

Congrats, VK! What an excellent "first big auction" win! I finally picked up an owl too and am looking forwards to seeing it in hand but it hasn't shipped yet.

No, his isn't an archaic owl. It's a classical owl, the so-called "mass emission" owl.

The archaic owls were touched on in another recent thread, https://www.cointalk.com/threads/at-long-last-i-joined-the-owl-club.338609/. In that thread there is a link to a good article you may wish to read to learn more about the different types of Athens tetradrachms: https://rg.ancients.info/owls/

 

That's a beauty and a very nice score, VK. What a way to jump into the 'big auctions'!

 

Congrats to your new purchase, @ValiantKnight. You got a good one with lots of crest.

 

That is a nice specimen of the most popular of all ancient coins. The recent hoard of them has made these Classical period coins easy to find but does not seem to have brought down the price. I have seen nearly perfect ones for $2k and coins I would not be ashamed to own for $500. TIF covered the matter of them not being Archaic AKA the owl I want to acquire. Most Archaic tets are pretty awful looking but they are what appeals to me.

My favorite owl is from the transitional period after Archaic and before Classical. Most important, it is an obol or 1/24th of a tetradrachm. Obols are not rare (there may be one of them for every ten thousand tetradrachms?) but early ones are scarce and this one is special to me for the flan shape. Obviously it has many faults and would not be considered collectible were it a tetradrachm. It is my only pre-Classical Athenian fraction. Few sellers of fractions make any attempt to classify them as to period. I have no intention of buying an more tetradrachms but would like to fill out my denomination set.

 

Thanks all for the likes/comments!

Considering that they don't seem as common when compared to the tetradrachms, the fractionals are of particular interest to me. Would you know how scarce the drachms are?

 

What a beautiful specimen VK, well worth the wait for your first auction win, congrats.

 

Nice coin – congratulations! I don't have an Athenian tetradrachm (yet), but here is what I call my budget owl:


Pontos, Amisos, AR drachm (Chian standard), 4th c. BC. Obv: turreted head of Hera-Tyche l. Rev: Owl with spread wings facing, ME-ΓA below, Π in left field. 15mm, 3.8g. SNG BM Black Sea 1099. Ex AMCC 1, lot 342.

 

Lovely coin! Quite an addition to your Greek collection!

 

That is a ver nice first time auction win! And do you think you will use auctions more often now?

 

That's a great acquisition @ValiantKnight and you will never forget what your first auction win was, even when you will have been collecting for 80 years

As I've already shown it this week I'm a bit reluctant to posting my owl again, but what the heck, you asked, and I love it (and my wife who gifted me with it) !



ATTICA, Athens. Circa 454-404 BC. AR Tetradrachm
Helmeted head of Athena right, with frontal eye
Owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig and crescent behind, all within incuse square. ΑΘΕ in the right field
24mm, 17.08 g, 8h
Ref : Kroll # 8; HGC # 4,1597

Q


Oh ! and the greek 1 euro isn't bad either (one of the less boring euro types so far

 

Thanks for the additional comments and great coins so far!

Yes definitely, perhaps every couple of months or something along those lines.

 

With so many owls being offered now from that hoard we hear about, I thought it was time to ante up and get a nice one. It was slabbed, but isn't anymore.



Greek coins are far from my focus, but there is a lot of hype about owls and (like most of you, I expect) I wanted one. I think I bid on maybe 20 before I won this one.

 

Very nice!

Heres my drachm

 

Very cool randy. There was a drachm in the same auction as my tetradrachm that I was tempted to get but alas, not enough funds for both!