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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 2010263, member: 19463&quot;]Certainly it is a great coin but I would prefer a photo that used higher angle and softer lighting so the deep shadows did not hide important detail like the triple tail feathers.&nbsp; Such coins are hard to photograph.&nbsp; I also disagree with the statement: These early coins were very crudely designed and generally of poor quality. (Cited from: <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-athens-tetradrachm.254601/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-athens-tetradrachm.254601/">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-athens-tetradrachm.254601/</a>)</p><p>Athens was always slow to update the style of their coins to the then current fashion but I believe what is being seen here as poor quality is the fact that the market today allows high prices for any coin from the archaic period including the poorly made ones while we don&#039;t see as many of the low end specimens of the more common issues.&nbsp; The first of the owls were among the first coins that had designs on both sides so we can understand there being some learning curve in their production.&nbsp; There are very well made archaic owls which make a big hit when one comes to market.&nbsp; I suspect most of them are sold via private treaty by dealers who know customers who want them. </p><p><br /></p><p>Finally, I agree with the wonder at how such high relief coins were struck.&nbsp; I&#039;m sure it was assisted by the extremely soft and pure silver used at Athens and by the flans being globular rather than flat like we now expect from coins.&nbsp; This specimen testifies to this with its better central detail than on the obverse periphery.&nbsp; The smaller reverse punch would also favor pushing silver into the center of the obverse at the expense of the crest.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>We need to be careful with these in handling and cleaning since the soft silver scratches and smooths easily.&nbsp; Microscopic exam of the surfaces often shows polish or damage more than most Greek silvers. My best one (a later Classical style) shows this.&nbsp; It also shows how a spread flan can result in weaker central detail (flat spot on wing) than would have resulted with a globular flan.&nbsp; The trade off is better feathers on the crest near the edges of the flan.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]362047[/ATTACH] </p><p>Many owls appear to be tooled or smoothed but I wonder if it is not just cleaning damage.</p><p><br /></p><p>I would like to know how many blows of the hammer were used on each coin.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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