It's this an authentic Athens Owl? I'm interested in purchasing but just weary of counterfeits. Seller initially thought it was bronze based on color, but in 3rd photo seems like there might by silver peeking through the worn areas. Or is there more details that can better pinpoint its info? 10mm, 0.64g
You realize this coin isn't an Athenian tetradrachm, right? It's only 0.64g, which makes it a tiny fractional silver, a mere speck of a coin. It may be authentic, but the style on the obverse suggests an imitative issue, possibly from a Levantine civilization.
Would it be something like the OP coin in this post? https://www.cointalk.com/threads/itsy-bitsy-teeny-weenie-athens-owl-it’s-a-hemiobol.246682/
Yes, but these small-change versions were minted all over the Greek world, not just Athens. I don't know them well enough to say where the OP coin was minted.
I thought you were claiming to post an Athenian Owl Tetradrachm, in which case the coin you showed looked crude and way too thin for a Tetradrachm. @John Anthony pointed out my error. Now that I know it's not a Tet, but rather fractional currency, it looks ok to me.
@Justin Lee I can't say for certain but when I saw your OP I was immediately reminded of the imitative issues from Arabia in the 3rd century BC. Here is an example from CNG of a 1/8 unit for comparison. 8mm 0.47 g (a tiny little fella) Perhaps take a look through here and see what you think. https://www.cngcoins.com/Search.asp...R_TYPE_ID_2=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_4=1
If you want to avoid fakes, buy from vcoins dealers or major auction houses specializing in ancients. I have had multiple thousand dollar coins refunded without question 3 years after I bought them when a specialist determined they were fake.
Most of us miss that the common owl tetradrachms were not the common coin of commerce but more the storage medium for large sums rather like we today use $100 bills. Pots of them survive in great shape. Meanwhile down in the marketplace, people made daily purchases like a hunk of bread dipped in oil (Gyros had not been invented yet???) using smaller coins. Most of these were 'used up' lost or destroyed. The ones we have are more likely to be individual finds than hoarded with a thousand like them in a nice safe pot. Most common of the smalls is the obol or 1/24 tetradrachm which is what yours is. They come in 1/8,1/4, 1/2, 1, 1.5, 2 & 3 obols. Six obols makes a drachm which comes in 1, 2, 4 and 10 sizes. 2 and 10 are rare. Who out there is trying for the set? Not I but I do really want a 1/8 obol. Like everyone else here, I'm not willing to say it is or is not either genuine of Athenian rather than from some outlying area. I tend to believe it is ancient. I'm less certain it is Athenian regular mint issue. Like tetradrachms, the little ones come in styles expert date over a period of a couple centuries. While perhaps a hundred times more rare than the tetradrachm, the demand for these little guys is not as high so people like me can afford them.
