Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="robinjojo, post: 8197810, member: 110226"]Yes indeed.  The drachm is a much scarcer coin. Since most day-to-day expenses in Athens and elsewhere were paid in subsidiary coinage, obols and bronze coinage, it seems to me that the incentive at the mint was clearly to produce tetradrachms over lower denominations. The "owls" were an integral part of international trade.  Athens, through her power in the 5th century BC over other states within the Athenian Arche was able to spread her owls throughout the Aegean, and further east, into Egypt, the Levant, Syria, Asia Minor, Persia and Arabia. With the need to produce massive quantities of these tetradrachms to finance capital projects, build the Athenian fleet, finance Athens' costs during the Peloponnesian War including the ruinous expedition against Syracuse, smaller silver coins, notably didrachms (produced for a very limited period), drachms and even obols were clearly not a priority. Here's a drachm that I purchased last year, from an Israeli dealer.  This coin could be an imitation.  Also the obverse has either a die shift, or, less likely an overstrike. 3.8 grams [ATTACH=full]1436068[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]