THe beauty of Owl coins in Gold and Electrum. Post your coins here.

Since little girl, I was fascinated from the ancient greek Owl coins, especially the gold and electrum ones.
Please post your coins here for research and educational purpose.
I am starting with 3 coins that I was honored to hold them in my hands.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Wow, I didn't even know a gold version existed for the Attica Athens coin. How did you manage to come into contact with these

 

Staters yes? You did not mention the years. Here are a few other Athens:

first pic (left) is Lachares 296-294 BC
second is an Emergency Athens Stater of 406 BC.

Yes it would be nice to know where or how you encountered the coins imaged. Nice gold!! (I do not own the coins displayed, they are displayed for "educational" purposes only).

 

Edited quote from -- ANCIENTCOINS.market --

"We enjoy them (ancient coins) as the highest form of Art. Because of them, we know our history. Nothing survived from king Alyates except for his coins, nothing survived from King Monunius except of his coins. We would not have known that there was a king named Pheidon of Argos if we had not found his coins. Humanity owes a great deal to Numismatics. WE MAYBE BE DIFFERENT IN MANY WAYS, BUT WE ALL SHARE THE SAME PASSION FOR COINS." end quote --

Wow, what a statement. Coins do invite historical studies, and they do add to our knowledge of what so and so may have looked like! However, I do NOT share this passion for coins. Numismatic studies and researches offer much more than just recognition of a coin's authenticity, and its links to other events and peoples. It also includes: (1) the education and growth, in a healthy manner, of young children, it opens for them a very wholesome hobby. (2) collections preserve a nation's coinage for future generations to observe (which can include historical incidents). (3) Metallurgical studies (4) recognition of counterfeits (5) coins can be a form of monetary investment (6) It is a great hobby for certain handicapped individuals (in wheel chairs, or depressed souls, or house bound types) (7) It is fun, enjoyable. (8) Numismatics can be a profession/career for certain folks (9) coins/bullion can be an emergency type resource when and if paper (fiat) money fails. (10) Not only can coins be an investment, but individuals can preserve (bank) their wealth within their collections. (11) Coins can enhance and validate history, in numerous ways. (12) Linguistics, and various archaeological studies are enhanced via numismatics --- for example many ancient coins and seals from northern India give us a small window into the ancient Aryan world of the area. (13) you add more.......

Thus #11 and #12, on my list are close to your statement, but as you KNOW, they are only part of the lore of numismatics. To me the highest form of ART is not seen in coins. Some of the manuscript miniatures seen in the Byzantine period, and in the Slavic regions are simply beautiful. I have seen flowers designed by God, which are absolutely stunning! I suppose we each have our own preferences, but I do not think we all have the SAME PASSION as you state on your EBAY site. Thus I wonder about your post, if it is for educational purposes, please explain, as you provided no INFORMATION about your beautiful images. Inform me!

 

Sorry guys, forgot to post the info for each of them. As for the photos, they are done from me with a amateur camera.
First coin :
LESBOS, Mytilene.
Circa 454-428/7 BC.
Gold EL Hekte
(10mm, 2.481 g, 12h).
Forepart of goat right, head reverted
/ Owl standing facing, wings spread, within incuse square.
Bodenstedt Em. 42; HGC 6, 968; SNG von Aulock 1693;
SNG Lockett 2757 = Pozzi 2320; Boston MFA 1682; BMC 29–30; Weber 5606.
The reverse type of this issue is thought to be copied from that of the famous Athenian dekadrachms.

Second and third coin :
LESBOS. Mytilene.
Gold EL Hekte 1/6 stater
(Circa 377-326 BC).
Obv: Helmeted head of Athena right.
Rev: Owl standing right, head facing, within linear square border.
Bodenstedt 105.
Weight: 2.50 g. and 2.48g the third one.
Diameter: 10 mm.
Rare because is the last emission from Lesbos. They usually are struck from rusted dies and of center. Thus the second coin is exceptional for the issue.

 

Thanks for sharing those coins. Truly stunning.

 

[QUOTE="GSDykes, post: 2200105, member: 73321"

It is a great hobby for certain handicapped individuals (in wheel chairs, or depressed souls, or house bound types)

Dear "GSDykes" I find a little bit offensive this language towards a certain Group category of people. Coin's collection is not for

"handicapped individuals (in wheel chairs, or depressed souls, or house bound types) "

We are all humans with beautiful spirit, no matter everyone's disabilities .

The collection of ancient coins started when humans minted their first coinage. CAESAR mentioned how proud he was, for his collection of rare Greek Coins.
Romans were very famous collectors. In their markets they would ask often to exchange coins , for example "I have a Gilded Augustus and I exchange it for a Caesar with captive goul "
etc. etc..
JP Morga Chase was a notorious collector. A lot of presidents were coins collectors.
As you see, this hobby is not exclusively for ( handicapped individuals )

As for myself.. I consider myself a humble collector, I occasionally sell, but I spend more money buying.
True to say, there are many areas of collection ( manuscripts , pottery, dolls, guns, ) you name it, it's all there.
However , this forum is for Ancient coins, sympathisers, thus your statement is a little of topic.
I am pretty sure, you can find another forum that suit you better. Forums about manuscripts, India or even for Alien life )
I wish you a good night .

 

=> I think that you're both trying to say that coins ROCK!!



Oh, and those are gorgeous coins, ancientcoinmarket (acm) ... sadly, I don't have any gold examples to post (please keep 'em coming)

Oh, and welcome to CT

 

+1

 

These are electrum Hekte of Lesbos. They copy the iconography of the Athenian owls, but they are not Athenian. Athenian gold is extremely extremely rare. Did I mention extremely? The Athenians only minted gold during the monetary crisis at the end of the Peloponessian War (beginning of the 5th century BC), after the Spartans cut off their silver supply at Laurion. In order to raise money for defense, Athenian authorities ordered the melting of all gold, which included seven statues of Nike, and the minting of gold coins. Fouree silver was also officially minted at this time.

Triton XII, Lot 246 is one of the few pieces of Athenian gold I've come across, which sold for a cool $67,000 before buyer's fees. The write up on this coin is worth reading as it references Aristophanes' diatribe against the emergency coinage in The Frogs.

 

Thank you JA for yet another informative post.

 

http://www.colosseocollection.com/p167157959

 

Just yesterday I got my wife to look at AJ's collection of coins seen on that page so that she might be convinced of the beautiful artistry to be found on ancient coins. She was suitably impressed, and the first thing she thought to say was, "Wow, your coins are crap in comparison." Yeah, the truth hurts .

 

Awesome posts---I may yet own one in the years to come...but just one!!! LOL

 

But you know that isn't the truth. Non-collectors' opinions of numismatics have to be taken with a grain of salt. They are often uninformed and superficial. Numismatics is a spiritual journey that encompasses history, aesthetics, and friendship with other collectors. There is no crap. Joe would be the first one to say that.

 

Ouch, harsh!

 

The Lesbos hekte are an excellent way to collect electrum coinage. They are plentiful, and many beautiful examples can be found in the $500 - $1000 range.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself, and of course, I didn't. The only thing that popped into my head as a response was a quote from one of my favorite philosophers, Taylor Swift. "Why you gotta be so mean?"

 

Lol!

 

Those are fantastic pieces Acm, to bad ya' don't own 'em...