Superb owl Sunday

In honor of it being Superb owl Sunday, post a coin with an owl that you think is superb!

I'll start:


Troas, Sigeion, c. 335 BC.
Greek Æ 12.2 mm, 2.37 g, 5 h.
Obv: Head of Athena facing slightly right, wearing triple crested helmet and necklace.
Rev: ΣΙΓΕ, owl standing right, head facing; crescent to left.
Refs: BMC 17.86,7-10; SNG von Aulock 7637; SNG Ashmolean 1214–6; SNG Copenhagen 496–8; Sear 4145.

 

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Aren't all owls somewhat superb?


Attica, Athens, AR tetradrachm, ca. 440s–430s BC. Obv: head of Athena to right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves and palmette. Rev: AΘE; Owl standing right, head facing; to left, olive sprig and crescent; all within incuse square. 24mm, 17.14g. Ref: Kroll 8,


Attica, Athens, AR triobol or hemidrachm, ca. 390–295 BC. Obv: head of Athena with Attic helmet r. Rev: Owl standing facing between olive twigs, retrograde ethnic [A]ΘE around. 12.5mm, 2.06g. Ref: SNG Munich 206–7.


Pontos, Amisos, AR drachm (Chian standard), 4th c. BC. Obv: turreted head of Hera-Tyche l. Rev: Owl with spread wings facing, ME-ΓA below, Π in left field. 15mm, 3.8g. SNG BM Black Sea 1099.

 

Love your birds!

Here is mine

 

Athens Attica 454-404 BCE AR HemiDrachm 16mm 2.08g Athena frontal eye - facing Owl wings closed olive branches COP 70 SG 2528

 

My one and only owl:

 

Not superb but my only owl.
I find the image of the owl iconic for Greek coinage (fact - before becoming an active member on CT I had no interest in Greek coins, things have changed a lot)
I have never seen such tiny coins until December, when I bought some Greek coins, including a 5 mm beauty from my avatar.
My mini owl:


Attica. Athens circa 454-404 BC.
Hemiobol AR

6 mm., 0,27 g.

Obv. Helmeted head of Athena right. Rev. AΘΕ ; Owl right head facing, wings folded, olive-leaf and berry behind, all within an incuse square. Sear SG 2531

 

I'll join in. This owl is a little older (and plumper) than the others above.

 

Wish it was mine...

 

Two bodies for twice the superb owlness...


TROAS, Sigeion
AE21. 8.91g, 20.7mm. TROAS, Sigeion, circa 355-334 BC. SNG Cop 493; SNG München 304-6; SNG von Aulock 1570. O: Head of Athena facing slightly right, wearing triple crested helmet and necklace. R: ΣIΓE, synephalic (double-bodied) owl standing facing; crescent to right.
Ex Dr. W.R. Collection; ex Demetrios Armounta Collection

 

A parliament of a few owls in my collection- middle row far right has flown off to Hong Kong.This was when I had only 34 or so now got about 56.

 

Here a decidedly un-spectacular owl, but it is a countermark, so I am fond of it:


Pergamum, Mysia Æ 20
(c. 200-133 B.C.)
Laureate head of Asklepios right / Π - Ε[Ρ / Γ - Α / ΜΗΝΩΝ], Eagle standing l. on thunderbolt, head right, with wings spread.
SNG BN 1870-1.
Countermark: Owl standing r., head facing, within 7 mm circle.
sim. SNG France 1815
(6.44 grams / 20 mm)

Attribution Note:
Owl countermark commonly on the reverse of Asklepios/serpent host coins from Pergamum
(SNG France 1815 with countermark).

I could not find this exact host/countermark combination (Mar. 2020)

 

50 owls

 

(1) Here's my favorite "mass classical owl" -- the reverse is nice and crisp, sadly there's a pressure fracture (I believe from the striking) right on Athena's eye!



(2) Here's my "Last Screech of the Athens Owl." As far as I can tell, this is the last of them, but I'm also here to ask.

Maybe @NewStyleKing king help: New Style Coinage is often dated 165 BC to 42 BC, for the series. But I've been unable to figure of which, if any, issues (besides imitations) were struck after the Sulla/"flats of Lucullus" series. I think Thompson only lists imitations after, doesn't she? What am I missing for those last four and a half decades?



Apologies, still using the auction house photo, but wanted to share & ask a question before I forget.

Coin-in-hand video link here (via Imgur).

Below are my cut-and-pastes from the 1999 auction catalog:


ATTICA, Athens AR “New Style” Tetradrachm (29mm, 16.36 g, 12h). Struck during Roman occupation under Sulla, Proquaestor L. Licinius Lucullus, 86-84 BC.
Obverse: Head of Athena Parthenos right, wearing single-pendant earring, necklace, and triple-crested Attic helmet decorated with the foreparts of four horses above the visor, a Griffin (?) in flight rightward above the raised earpiece, and a curvilinear ornament on the bowl.
Reverse: Owl standing right, head facing, on amphora; two monograms flanking; all within wreath.
References: Thompson 1315 (same obv. die[?]); HGC 4, 1779.
Pedigree: Ex CNG Feature Auction 115, Lot 147 (17 September 2020), “From the collection of a Texas Wine Doctor”; Ex CNG Sale 51, Lot 302 (15 September 1999)*.
Notes: Possible correction: Described by CNG as Pegasus, but appears to be griffin / winged lion on the visor behind the horses.

 

Superb? Not really, but it's mine.

 

Kinda hard to find:


Teate Apulia 225-220 BCE AE Quincunx 12.5g 26.5mm Athena R Corinthn helmet - TIATI owl K 5 pellets - BMC HN Italy 702a SNG Cop 689 var RARE



Athens 340-317 BCE BC AE 12 Athena attic helmet R- Double bodied Owl with head facing E olive sprigs kalathos RARE BMC 224



Sicily Kalakte AE unit 2nd C BCE Head Athena in Helmet - Owl rev RARE

 

Attica, Athens
AR tetradrachm
Obv: Helmeted head of Athena right
Rev: Owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig to left, crescent behind, AΘE to right, all within incuse square
Date: 454-404 BC
Ref: SNG Copenhagen 31
Size: 17.19g, 24mm



Attica, Athens
AR drachm
Obv: Helmeted head of Athena right
Rev: Owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig to left, crescent behind, AΘE to right, all within incuse square
Date: 454-404 BC
Ref: Sear SG 2527



Attica, Athens
AE15
Obv: Helmeted bust of Athena right
Rev: Two owls facing on thunderbolt, AΘE below, all within olive wreath
Date: 130-90 BC/166-57 BC
Ref: Kroll Agora 99; Svoronos pl. 24.60-68; Kleiner Type 16 (from Wildwinds.com)

 

OWLS are just cool critters. When I was in First Grade, I had to walk to a babysitter after school. Her husband had caught an injured Great Horned Owl to nurse it back to health. Wow, was that cool! Used a large dog kennel cage to house it. We had Barn Owls growing up, but the Great Horned Owl were BIG!


Barn Owl vs. Great Horned Owl


Sicily Kamarina AE 15mm 3.4g 420-405 BCE Athena Owl Lizard 3 dots Sear Gk 1063



SICILY Kamarina Æ Onkia 13mm 1.5g 420-405 BCE Gorgon tongue - KAMA owl r lizard in claw pellet in ex SNG Münch 411

 

The high chronology of Thompson basically of 112 issues were allocated one year each from 197 down. One coin she called a "special Issue" Star between 2 Crescents of king Mithradates and Aristion as magistrates. Without any evidence she said this issue was to commemorate a special gift to Athens from Mithradates lll c 121 BC.
Coins from then year by year went down to 86 BC and the siege of Piraeus and Athens by Sulla after which all issues of NewStyles ceased.
However there is a group of NewStyles whose symbols seem to reflect the partisan politics of the run-up to Sullas siege that are related to Eupator of Pontus. In Thompson's high chronology these coins inhabit the late 120's BC so issues of Pegasus. Gorgon Head,Roma, Roma & Nike , Griffin and Star between 2 Crescents seem out of place. The known names of the tyrant Aristion on Pegasus and Star & Crescents and the Thief of Teos, Apellikon on Griffin are out of kilter with their place in history, by 32 years. Hoard evidence was argued about,overstrikes were argued about but Lewis's then Mattingly's low chronology seemed the best fit and is generally adopted today.
So coins in the high chronology that ran up to Sulla's siege now must find a place and that is after Sulla.
Indeed a completely new issue appeared in a hoard properly inspected after 50 years lying about in an Athens museum. On Thompson's old high dating, this would not fit!
Hoards of Athens NewStyles that incorporate denarii tend also to have late Newstyles, Lucullan issues and bits and bobs of other coins associated with the first Mithradatic wars.
The late NewStyles are all now 2 magistrate issues and progressively become rarer with few known examples and obverse dies after around the 3rd Mithradatic war and seem to be more as personal issues until probably Mark Anthony's sojourn in Athens killed them off.
It should be stated that whilst Margaret Thompson chronology was wrong her general sequencing of issues has only been marginally modified.

John

 

Great thread! Wonderful parliament of owls posted by all!...I've dug through my collection and can't believe I'm 'OWLESS'! How can that happen? This needs to be sorted!.......When I was young I actually did a few falconry shows to earn a few pounds with a good friend of mine back in 1979....He knew his stuff and I knew zero!......An eventful summer to say the least! We had some fun!...One of his most impressive birds was an Eagle owl! This monster at near on 3/4 metre tall with a wingspan of 6ft use to sit on my arm and look me up and down like I was possibly dinner!!