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New auction win - An owl imitation from Egypt.
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<p>[QUOTE="robinjojo, post: 7869329, member: 110226"]Nice coins!</p><p><br /></p><p>The evolution of the eye is a marker, generally speaking, of the period that a given owl was produced, with the gradual detachment of the lower lid from the upper, first in the front, then at the back of the eye.</p><p><br /></p><p>I recently picked up a late classical owl, which I think was produced after 410 BCE.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1355421[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>This style of the opening eye carried through the plated emergency coinage of 406-405 BCE.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1355422[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Now, the OP owl, with the "droopy" eye, is a somewhat controversial coin. Some scholars attribute it to Egypt, where dies were imported from Athens around the time that Athenian coinage collapsed due to the end of the Peloponnesian War, and Athens' defeat and occupation by Sparta. Other scholars, including Kallet and Kroll, contend that the droopy eye owls were produced in Athens, with a cluster of them discovered in a hoard in Attica. </p><p><br /></p><p>What is clear about these later classical and intermediate owls, to me, is that their production extended beyond Athens, with many of the imitations fairly faithfully following the Athenian designs and weight standard early one, and then deviating to more localized styles and weights, especially in regions where the Phoenician shekel circulated or where Persian coinage was commonly used. The imitations were widespread, due to the popularity of the owls, and this area of collecting can be challenging and rewarding.</p><p><br /></p><p>In reference to Terence's third coin, the Levantine owl, I did purchase one that was in a NGC slab earlier this year, but not attributed, probably because it is dark and somewhat worn, making the Aramaic nun on Athena's cheek a little hard to make out.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1355427[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="robinjojo, post: 7869329, member: 110226"]Nice coins! The evolution of the eye is a marker, generally speaking, of the period that a given owl was produced, with the gradual detachment of the lower lid from the upper, first in the front, then at the back of the eye. I recently picked up a late classical owl, which I think was produced after 410 BCE. [ATTACH=full]1355421[/ATTACH] This style of the opening eye carried through the plated emergency coinage of 406-405 BCE. [ATTACH=full]1355422[/ATTACH] Now, the OP owl, with the "droopy" eye, is a somewhat controversial coin. Some scholars attribute it to Egypt, where dies were imported from Athens around the time that Athenian coinage collapsed due to the end of the Peloponnesian War, and Athens' defeat and occupation by Sparta. Other scholars, including Kallet and Kroll, contend that the droopy eye owls were produced in Athens, with a cluster of them discovered in a hoard in Attica. What is clear about these later classical and intermediate owls, to me, is that their production extended beyond Athens, with many of the imitations fairly faithfully following the Athenian designs and weight standard early one, and then deviating to more localized styles and weights, especially in regions where the Phoenician shekel circulated or where Persian coinage was commonly used. The imitations were widespread, due to the popularity of the owls, and this area of collecting can be challenging and rewarding. In reference to Terence's third coin, the Levantine owl, I did purchase one that was in a NGC slab earlier this year, but not attributed, probably because it is dark and somewhat worn, making the Aramaic nun on Athena's cheek a little hard to make out. [ATTACH=full]1355427[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
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New auction win - An owl imitation from Egypt.
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