At long last, I joined the Owl Club

Nice coin @Finn235 !!!!! Everyone has posted some nice coins.

Here is the coin that got me into the owl club:

 

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Very nice archaic owl, @scarborough. Pretty sharp details. Wish I can find one. Maybe sometime in 2020...

 

My ticket to the club

 

Welcome to the owl-club @Finn235 that's a beautiful one

I'm "owled", thanks to my wife and her generosity. She gifted me with one for a previous birthday after she'd seen one online that she found to be beautiful (see here : https://www.cointalk.com/threads/between-my-wife-and-i-an-owl-story.280813/ )




Q

 

Very nice, I look forward to the day when I joint the owl club.

 

Very nice example St... Finn235

In 2013 Reid Goldsborough put this up, which is a great intro and reference point (@TIF - look again, later into the article). Among others he references Chester Starr who was a serious authority on these:
https://rg.ancients.info/owls/
Through the Ages
Athenian Owls

enjoy!!

 

Thanks all and some lovely owls posted!

@lrbguy reading through it again I suppose my coin is a Type C?

More specifically, I have seen auction houses offer up seemingly classical owls attributed to specific periods before 454 BC - I have never seen an explanation of this before.

An example:
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4674826

 

@Finn235 HOWLS for the OWLS:

(They are all over the place, and different denominations!)


Athens Attica 454-404 BCE AR hemidrachm 16mm 2.08g Athena frontal eye - facing Owl wings closed olive branches COP 70 SG 2528



Teate Apulia 225-220 BCE AE Quincunx 12.5g 26.5mm Athena R Corinthn helmet - TIATI owl K 5 pellets - BMC HN Italy 702a SNG Cop 689 var RARE



Athens 340-317 BCE BC AE 12 Athena attic helmet R- Double bodied Owl with head facing E olive sprigs kalathos RARE BMC 224



SICILY Kamarina Æ Onkia 13mm 1.5g 420-405 BC Gorgon tongue - KAMA owl r lizard in claw pellet in ex SNG Münch 411


Since it has been bankers' marked, it has probly tavelled well out of the Greek world!

Athens Owl 16.8g 22x6-5mm Late Classical 393-300 BC, Sear 2537, SNG Cop. 63

 

Membership approved!



This is my first Greek Owl coin from 2011:


Greek Attic Athens Classical Owl Tetradrachm
Obverse: Head of Athena right with beaded necklace, three small upright olive leaves on front edge of Attic helmet
Reverse: Owl leaning right, head facing, olive twig with two leaves and crescent moon
Legend AOE (Ethnic legend)
Silver, 17.18g
Struck c. BC 430

 

My (only) lowly Owl . . . (I love them.)

APULIA Teate SNG Cop. 690 var.

 

@Finn235, I believe those are the Early Transitionals. The coin in your weblink belongs to Starr Group V B type, which has a different owl design, head turns back more, plus split tail feathers (Classical tails are no split). There are even earlier types, such as Starr Groups I to IV. I think the owl coins at this time period are more beautiful than the mass Classical types.

 

For years I basically ignored Athenian Owls having bought one back in the late 1980"s and figuring I really don't need another. However a few years ago I bought a copy of Flament's book on Athenian coins and ended up buying a whole group of them Here are a few.
1. Athens Tetradrachm Circa 465 Starr V A
2. Athens Tetradrachm Circa 454 Flament Group 1 early
3 Athens Tetradrachm Circa 450 Flament Group I Late
Naturally I bought all of mine before the big hoard.

 

Thanks for your very nice photos and description, @Terence Cheesman. Now I know my Early Transitional belongs to Flament Group 1 early (same spiral palmette, and owl). Upcoming thing to do is trying to find out which Flament Group my avatar coin belongs to...

Your Starr V A is beautiful. Noticed Athena's eyes are narrower, plus the owl's head bigger. Wonder if that is the main difference between V A and others.

 

What I can make out of the Starr Group V A's and B's is that the principle difference is in the reverse. In the Vb coins the owl generally looks like the early Flament 1 coins except it still has the three pronged tail feathers. The V A coins the head of Athena and the owls tend to look more like the Group IV coins except the obvious difference in the treatment of Athena's hair.

 

Yours are nicer than most I've seen in the recent hoard. Awesome pieces.

 

Stunning!

 

a drachm

 

In no particular order. 1 Early, 9 Late.











The Classical Athenian Tet is a must have for any Greek collector.
- Michael

 

My next three Owls
1. Tetradrachm Flament Group II 13/b
2. Tetradrachm Flament Group II/III Obv. III 16 Rv. IIr
3. Tetradrachm Flament Group III

 

So many Owls together in one place. Such eye candy!