Athenian Owl NEWP

I just bought this, (sellers pictures)
It’s not in hand yet. I’m more into US coins, but dabble in ancients. I’ve always wanted one of these and after looking through a LOT of these, I chose this one.

I am very interested in your opinions about my choice…. It’s graded CH AU strike: 5/5 surfaces: 4/5

 

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Looks like someone took an impression of it in wax at some point. Looks like a nice coin!

 

Very nice example of a classic coin!

 

Beautiful example, congrats.


Attica, Athens (353 - 294 B.C)
AR Tetradrachm
O: Helmeted head of Athena right. Pi Style 3
R: AΘE Owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig and crescent to left; all within incuse square.
16.59g
21 mm
Kroll -; HGC 4, 1599

Ex. Numismatik-Naumann, Auction 52, Lot 126

 

A nice example. I like the sharp owl on the reverse. Thanks for sharing.

 

Nice example and toning. I wonder what the red is and why it wasn't cleaned off before someone stuck it in a slab.
Here's mine:

 

Nice specimen...definitely one on my need to buy list.

 

It’s got a nice portrait and no test cuts. Judging by the style it looks like a “mass issue” or “Classical” type Owl, which is the most common type of Owl. The mass issue/classical type was minted in large quantities to fund Athens’s war with Sparta. The mass issue/classical type have been found in hoards, which explains their wide availability in high grades at auctions. The “mass issue” owls are distinguished by depicting a portrait of Athena with almond shaped eyes and a distinctive smile.

One of the more desirable types of owls is the “Archaic” type. The Archaic type owls were the earliest type of owls minted by Athens as they started production in the 6th Century BC. The Archaic type owls have a cruder engraving style than the later “mass issue” type.

After Athens lost the Peloponnesian war again Sparta, they started making “transitional” type owls. The “transitional” types were minted with small flans that can’t fit the entire design of the dies, which makes them less appealing to collectors compared to the “mass issue” or “Archaic” types.

The final type of Owl is the “New Style” type which was minted until Athens was annexed by Rome. The “New style” type looks drastically different from the other types in terms of design as the dies were engraved in a Hellenistic style.

https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins/being-wise-about-owls-the-athenian-owl-tetradrachm/

When collecting ancient coins, it’s not all about grade. Unlike US coins, ancient coins aren’t meant to be collected based on numbers from a grading scale. Overall eye appeal is much more important than technical grade for ancient coins.

One of the major factors regarding eye appeal is the “artistic style” of the dies. Keep in mind, ancient coin dies were hand engraved by individual artists. Each die is unique. Some dies are artistically engraved. Other dies are crudely engraved. Ancient coins of the same type can look drastically different depending on the dies used to strike them. Generally, collectors prefer coins with artistically engraved portraits over similar coins with crudely engraved portraits.

Most serious ancient numismatists don’t like slabs. Sure, NGC has a team of experts that look at a coin. However, NGC doesn’t guarantee the authenticity of ancient coins. NGC won’t slab a coin they think is fake, but they aren’t liable in the rare chance the coin is fake. Besides not guaranteeing authenticity, NGC doesn’t properly attribute ancient coins either (for some reason they can identify the VAM varieties of Morgan dollars but they can’t identify the RIC types of Roman coins).

Basically, NGC shouldn’t be seen as the end all and final word on authenticity for ancient coins. NGC is just one pair of expert hands on a coin. It’s encouraged to buy ancient coins that passed through many expert hands. Where you buy your ancient coin matters. A coin that was sold through reputable auction houses and dealers such as CNG, Harlan Berk, Roma, Numismatics Ars Classica, and Vcoins is just as good as being NGC certified. Keep in mind these auctions houses and dealers do guarantee authenticity, unlike NGC. A coin that has a provenance of being through multiple sales in the past means that it went through the hands of many different experts and has little doubts to its authenticity.

 

probably my favorite ancient coin design

 

Thanks everybody!
I can't wait to see it in hand.

 

I also thought that it looked like wax. That makes sense...

 

Fantastic, this is one of the most famous coins from ancient history.
I occasionally tell myself it's just a fat piece of silver, but Athena on the obverse tells me otherwise.

Not sure what the red is, maybe an unusual form of oxidation???

 

Oh, Lord Marcovan, where art thou?

 

If it is, it could be the red oxide of copper. Copper is in the same chemical group as silver and gold. Wax would be much easier to remove. Jim

 

Nice owls!

I see some oxidation on the OP coin. The yellowish color could be due to lighting or photographic settings. The tiny red deposits are likely earthen, but if they are wax, acetone (100%) will remove them without affecting the coin.

 

There is just a tiny problem: you have to free the coin from its prison first
And I definitely do not like that brown colour

 

Of course. I don't recommend soaking the slab in acetone. As for the color, that doesn't bother me personally.

The oxidation appears to be natural and with so many brightly cleaned owls on the market, one with a patina, whatever color (grey, brown or even black) has a certain appeal for me.

 

That's part of the appeal, too. I like that it has color that looks original.

 

Here's an owl, an imitative one from the Levant I believe, looking pretty much as it emerged from the ground.

When there are deposits and oxidation on the coin at this level, any attempt to remove it would result in a bright, basically ugly coin. An ancient coin, I think should look ancient, after all.

 

I have noticed that Athena tetradrachms with genuine old cabinet toning seem relatively scarce. I wonder if that is due to the fact that most of these coins on the market are recent hoard finds?

I agree that the best-looking ancient coins are one that look ancient.