Ancient Owls...

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Loong Siew, Nov 28, 2019.

  1. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member

    Recently decided after almost a decade to upgrade my Attica. I'm glad I decided to go ahead with this piece.

    Attica, Tetradrachm. 90% full crest and full owl, legend and fig on incuse square reverse. Mint state.

    20191026_134221.jpg
     
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  3. Dougmeister

    Dougmeister Well-Known Member

  4. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member

    Thanks :)
     
  5. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

    ...kool coin! :)...i haven't any coins of owls, but i do have a carved stone statue of one... owl statue 001.JPG owl statue 002.JPG
     
  6. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member

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  7. PlanoSteve

    PlanoSteve Well-Known Member

    Very nice; both obverse & reverse pics look to be great strikes!

    But I do have a question since I cannot reconcile the shape of the flan. No matter how I rotate the 2 sides, I can't figure out the orientation/relation of the 2 sides.

    For instance, the flan crack on the reverse, at the owls right foot (looks fairly significant & deep) corresponds to what point on the obverse?

    The apparent significant protruding flan (at approximately the 4 o'clock position on the reverse) corresponds to what point on the obverse.

    I just don't have the feeling this is one coin. Is this coin in your possession? Or are you awaiting delivery?

    Hope all is copacetic with this coin. :happy:;)
     
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  8. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member

    The protruding flan beneath the owl corresponds to the crest on Athena's helmet
     
  9. arnoldoe

    arnoldoe Well-Known Member

    you can see the flan crack on the obverse behind the neck
     
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  10. PlanoSteve

    PlanoSteve Well-Known Member

    Hmm, OK, thanks for the fast response!
     
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  11. TypeCoin971793

    TypeCoin971793 Just a random guy on the internet

    Great coin! Magnificent strike! Now is the time to buy a high-grade Athens owl tet
     
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  12. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member

    Thanks. Whilst recent hoards have made them much more affordable, high grade ones still retain a decent value.. Hence should consider..
     
  13. happy_collector

    happy_collector Well-Known Member

    Nice owl with near-full crest. :happy:
     
  14. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member

    Thanks. Pretty well centred Athena and full reverse details on flan. The chin is slightly cut off but overall I like the portrait ..Details are still sharp and hardly signs of wear too.. Very happy I decided to upgrade :)
     
  15. happy_collector

    happy_collector Well-Known Member

    Here was my upgrade with near-full crest in mind. Have to sacrifice on the owl side though (weak strike on upper right).

    Attica05.jpg
     
  16. Broucheion

    Broucheion Well-Known Member

    upload_2019-11-30_2-44-18.png

    OBV: Athena head facing right in crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves over visor and a spiral palmette on the bowl. Plain border.
    REV: Owl standing, wings closed facing right. In upper left field, olive twig and crescent moon; In right field: ΑΘΕ, reading downwards. All within incuse square. Plain border.
    Size: 25x27 mm
    Weight: NGC didn't bother, oh well :(
    Axis: 2:00 hrs
    Appearance: Buttrey style X. Reverse: Countermark of Pharaoh or Horus wearing atef headdress and facing right while standing on solar barque. NGC 428 1282-014, graded as "Ch F",

    Note the countermark on the reverse. That's the only reason I bought the coin. To me it looks like a pharaoh in a solar barque. Here it is rotated 90 degrees clockwise (the dots are the owl's chest (breast?) feathers). This c/m reinforces the Egyptian nature of the coin. At least, it probably visited Egypt if it was not born there.
    upload_2019-11-30_2-48-34.png

    I couldn't find an exact match for a pharaoh in a solar barque but this is similar, except for the outstretched arm and head turned back.
    upload_2019-11-30_2-51-21.png


    General comments on Imitative Owls:
    Juan Carlos Moreno Garcia in "Dynamics of Production in the Ancient Near East": "The first coins mentioned in Egyptian texts were staters, i.e. Athenian tetradrachms, at the end of the 5th century BC; sometimes they are specified as 'str n Wjnn', Ionian staters. For the first time they appear on a Demotic ostracon from the year 13 of Darius II, that is 412 BC, from Ain Manawir near Dus in the south of Kharga oasis (Chauveau 2012)."

    Van Alfen (2011): "As the hoard evidence indicates, Egypt was the largest and most important market for Athenian owls in the classical period. It stands to reason that Egypt would also then be the largest producer of imitative owls, beginning probably in the last quarter of the fifth century and continuing until Alexander’s conquest. With only a couple of exceptions, coin production in Egypt before the Macedonians focused on imitative owls. Perhaps the largest, most important, and yet least understood series of imitative owls are those first identified by Theodore Buttrey in two brief papers (Buttrey 1982, 1984) discussing coins from the Fayum hoard (CH X-442). Buttrey argued that his types B, X and M (randomly assigned designators) were not produced by the Athenians, but rather by the Egyptians, most likely under official supervision in Memphis."

    - Broucheion
     
  17. Loong Siew

    Loong Siew Well-Known Member

    Cool piece. The countermark made it so much more appealing...
     
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