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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;AncientJoe, post: 1968182, member: 44357&quot;]Yes, you are correct. It is an early transitional owl, speculated to be minted between 465-462 BC (although the dating of these is somewhat imprecise). What is clear, however, is that it precedes the mass mintages of 449BC and later.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are several stylistic differences from an art-historical perspective which can be gleaned from Athena&#039;s portrait but the easiest way to differentiate between the earlier groups and the mass emissions is the reverse tail feathers: on the earlier coins, they are shown as three separate tail feathers and on the widely minted coins, they are shown together.</p><p><br /></p><p>The earliest Owl tetradrachms were minted in ca 512-490BC which are very archaic and crude looking, although historically interesting as they represent the start of the widest global trade currency of the ancient world.</p><p><br /></p><p>Comparing the earliest to the subsequent coins, it is clear that the style was refined dramatically and quickly over the next ~50 years before the large emissions (during which it is speculated that nine million tetradrachms were produced).[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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