Ancients: Imperfect owls, pick the fault of your choice.

The extremely popular tetradrachms of Athens with Athena and her owl are a great example of a problem we face when collecting. There are thousands of these coins on the market at any given moment but 99.9% of them have some fault that will bother some of us more than others. The only 'really perfect' owls I have seen have also been really fake. It is possible to find owls ranging in price from under $100 to over $10,000 but not all of us would agree on which faults can be overlooked and which are deal breakers when it comes to selecting a coin we can welcome in our collection.

Years ago, I had a friend who specialized in owls. He had a hundred of them from different periods but every single coin had Athena's nose on the flan. He would not look twice at a coin that even touched the tip of the nose. Many people like coins that show the crest on Athena's helmet and examples with (even nearly) full crest are not common.

When I saw this coin, I decided I needed it because it has more space beyond nose and crest than I have seen on one coin. Certainly it has several other faults including less than perfect surfaces and either wear of flat striking losing detail on the body of the owl and Athena's hair. I wanted it because of the flan size and I know I'll never afford a mint state 5/5 surfaced coin with similar details. One might also prefer a rounder coin with more of the top of the head and neck space. Each below has something going for it and faults that would make the coin unwanted by many collectors. In my price bracket, you can't have everything.

Three too many test cuts and wear but pretty nice centering:

This fourree has an unusual amount of space at the bottom of Athena.

Few test cut coins are damaged as little as this Pi type intermediate. It also has a great Pi:

This one has no test cuts but plenty of die and coin wear.


Feel free to post your faulty owls. If you have one perfect in all ways, I'd like to see it, too.

 

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I've posted mine before, but it is my only one:

 

As Pi types go, yours is well centered and nice. I do not mind a little wear.

 

Here is my better (earlier) transitional.



and my multiple fault (later) transitional

 

I have also posted my imitative owl (probably a record number of times?!!)

Oh well => here we go again!! (I hope that you still enjoy the lil' freak!?!)

 

Here's mine. No test cuts but it is far from perfect. I do have 2 more that are on their to my house as we speak. One of which has a counterstamp and both of their noses are off the flan. I don't mind those problems. To me I really don't like the big testcuts but everyone has to pick their poison.

 

I had better ones in terms of grade/surface but kept this one because of the boldness of Athena's portrait and the "full" incuse reverse...

 

Thanks for the owls. This is a subject that will keep coming up as we get new members so it would be nice to have a thread illustrating the options and the problems 'grading' the ungradable. There might not be a better coin to illustrate why comparing ancients is impossible using standard terms and 70 numbers.

 

you guessed it... on my list.

but nice owls everyone.

 

I really like how "high relief" these coins are, they are a real beauty. I have not found a owl for under $100 ever... Maybe I have not been looking hard enough.

 

Here's one which I owned: a nice crest, missing 'E' on the reverse, but nice toning and metal. However, I sold it and will eventually replace it with an earlier owl as I prefer them stylistically.

 

My older style owls are at best a compromise...

Plus side:- Nice round flan, All design elements present in some form
Negative:- Test cuts on both sides (though not overly intrusive), one on obverse and two on reverse, punch hole, graffiti, crest largely missing, tip of nose of flan




This one is on an odd shaped flan, the test cut is through the owl's head and is quite intrusive. Poor Athena has lost the top of her head and the tip of her nose. Slightly roughed up surfaces and a big graffiti "X" on the cheek.

 

Doug, when you die I'm going to pull a John Ford on your widow and buy that test cut fourree for 10 bucks.

JK

...maybe.

 

Wow--some nice owls here! Here's my Athenian owl. I wanted one for years, and was very happy I found one without test cuts. Athena is a bit crowded on the flan, but it's full weight 17.12gr.

 

That's a mighty sweet lookin' owl you've got there, DVC

=> long-time-no-hear, my ol' coin-friend

 

Very informative post, Doug. Thank you. I remember seeing these Owl posts over the years yet only recently took the time to examine the artistic merit of the Owl Tetradrachms. Beautiful and intricate is an understatement and your collective knowledge is highly impressive on the subject matter.

 

You are welcome. When it was first posted, I really expected more coins to be shown with good surfaces like the one AJ sold. I do agree with him that the most pleasing style is earlier (during the three tail feather era) but even if one is trying to assemble a set of the later major periods, it is hard to find centering, completeness and great surfaces all on one coin. The owls were struck on just about as pure silver as any coins ever were and they wore very quickly. Most we see probably did little duty in commerce as individuals but spent antiquity as bullion in pots of their own kind.

Those who like slabbed coins may find interest in
http://www.ngccoin.com/news//viewar...ook-at-the-Evolution-of-Athenian-Tetradrachms

While the test covers the pre-Classical Transitionals, they do not show one. CNG did sell a decent, but certainly not perfect, one.
http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=61130

Their Classical is a great coin but missing the E. Their New Style has the letter on the amphora worn almost away. All of these are really nice coins but it illustrates the difficulty when even NGC has trouble finding perfect coins.

Collecting is easier for those of us who forgive faults or those who stick to collecting coins that commonly come in prefect mint state.

 

I have decided to sell my Owl posted above for 1 reason. It is difficult to decide if it is a Pi-III or a Pi-IV. I want to get the full set and clearly have an example of each. No worries I will be finding a replacement for it shorty.

 

I would have said it is a Pi-IV but agree you should get a set with strong characteristics (Pi on flan at least) if the point is to make a set. I am still looking for a III with very elongated flan but want one with both noses on flan so that may take a while.