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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kaparthy, post: 1802398, member: 57463&quot;](This is based on an article that I wrote in 2004 for <i>The Celator</i>.) </p><p><br /></p><p>Collectors of ancient Greek coins know the silver-plated (“fouree” or “subaerate”) Athenian tetradrachms in classical style.&nbsp; Sometimes these owls are catalogued for sale as examples of the Emergency Coinage of 406 BC.&nbsp; As with many other specific topics in ancient numismatics, the full truth is somewhat more complicated.&nbsp; Irrefutable truths may not exist at all, leaving us only with likelihoods.</p><p><br /></p><p>The “owl” was and is perhaps the most common and famous ancient coin.&nbsp; Hoard evidence tells us that copies of these coins of good silver and good weight and even of good style came from many places outside of Athens.&nbsp; This was not “counterfeiting” as we know it, but merely turning bullion into a commonly accepted form.&nbsp; Even the Athenians could not tell which coins were made at home, and which were imported from Egypt. </p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp; In 1974, Ronald S. Stroud published a marble stele uncovered at the Agora in 1970. (Stroud, Ronald S, “An Athenian Law on Silver Coinage,” <i>Hesperia</i>, Vol. 43. Issue 2, June 1974.&nbsp; Also Giovaninni, Adelberto, “Athenian Currency in the Late Fifth and Early Fourth Century B.C.”, <i>Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies</i>,Vol. 16, Nu. 2, Summer 1975. Also, Buttrey, T. V., “The Athenian Currency Law of 375/4 B.C.,” <i>Greek Numismatics and Archaeology: Essays in Honor of Margaret Thompson</i>, Morkholm and Waggoner, eds., Editions NR, Wetteren, Belgium:1979.)&nbsp; The restoration and the translation are generally accepted.&nbsp; Some </p><p>points remain debatable.&nbsp; Most significant to this article is what the law does not say: <b>no provision is made for silver-plated Athenian coins.&nbsp; </b></p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp; The law requires that an official test any coins brought to him when the dispute is in excess of ten drachmas value.&nbsp; False coins are to be cut and dedicated to the temple.&nbsp; The merchant must accept good Athenian coins.&nbsp; Foreign coins of good silver are returned to the buyer.&nbsp; This law has no provision for genuine official Athenian fake owls.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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