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To crest or not to crest - the marketing of owls on today's retail and auction markets
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<p>[QUOTE="robinjojo, post: 7486904, member: 110226"]As with any ancient coin, the more detail the better, especially the prevalence of irregular flans, off-center strikes, die engraving of varying levels of quality, and coin surfaces exposed to environmental factors over the course of thousands of years.</p><p><br /></p><p>Given the narrow flans of most classical owls, the focus of attention is mostly on the crest of Athena's helmet, or lack of a crest. It seems that this is a crucial factor in determining a coin's sale price on the retail market, or the hammer price at auction, even if the "full" crest comes at the expense of a nose, or chin.</p><p><br /></p><p>"Full crest" is the marketing superlative given to owls who are endowed with this feature, even if the crest really isn't full in many cases. But, as with so many other aspects of selling these coins, that feature ultimately rests in the eye of the seller and buyer.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here's an owl that I own, graded EF, that came out of Roma's E-Sale 55 (4-18-19), lot 168, where is hammered for £420, plus 20% buyer's commission of £84, for a total of £504. That equals $701.00 at today's exchange rate. </p><p><br /></p><p>17.18 grams</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1295135[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>While this coin has a nice crest, it isn't full. It also has some weakness, probably due to die wear on the lower obverse, plus a small flan flaw just above the brow. </p><p><br /></p><p>Would this coin, on today's market, be described as having a full crest? I think that is possible, given the premium attached to this feature, and the desire of many ancient coin collectors to have one really nice type example in their collections. Another factor to consider is the flood of money entering the ancients market, creating a seemingly endless upward spiral for virtually all ancients, rare, scarce and common.</p><p><br /></p><p>It is a shame, in a way, that owls not possessing obverse crests tend to get less attention, although I have noticed during an auction that coins with nice portraits and owls sell for more than cruder, less well executed examples, but there's little doubt, to me, that the demand for an owl for many buyers and bidders is determined by the presence or absence of the crest.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here are couple of owl lots with crest detail that sold in E-Sale 83:</p><p><br /></p><p>This coin is nicer than what I posted:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.romanumismatics.com/237-lot-114-attica-athens-ar-tetradrachm?arr=0&auction_id=137&box_filter=0&cat_id=2&department_id=&exclude_keyword=&export_issue=0&gridtype=listview&high_estimate=5000&image_filter=0&keyword=&list_type=list_view&lots_per_page=100&low_estimate=10&month=&page_no=1&paper_filter=0&search_type=&sort_by=lot_number&view=lot_detail&year=" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.romanumismatics.com/237-lot-114-attica-athens-ar-tetradrachm?arr=0&auction_id=137&box_filter=0&cat_id=2&department_id=&exclude_keyword=&export_issue=0&gridtype=listview&high_estimate=5000&image_filter=0&keyword=&list_type=list_view&lots_per_page=100&low_estimate=10&month=&page_no=1&paper_filter=0&search_type=&sort_by=lot_number&view=lot_detail&year=" rel="nofollow">https://www.romanumismatics.com/237-lot-114-attica-athens-ar-tetradrachm?arr=0&auction_id=137&box_filter=0&cat_id=2&department_id=&exclude_keyword=&export_issue=0&gridtype=listview&high_estimate=5000&image_filter=0&keyword=&list_type=list_view&lots_per_page=100&low_estimate=10&month=&page_no=1&paper_filter=0&search_type=&sort_by=lot_number&view=lot_detail&year=</a></p><p><br /></p><p>And one more:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.romanumismatics.com/237-lot-120-attica-athens-ar-tetradrachm?arr=0&auction_id=137&box_filter=0&cat_id=2&department_id=&exclude_keyword=&export_issue=0&gridtype=listview&high_estimate=5000&image_filter=0&keyword=&list_type=list_view&lots_per_page=100&low_estimate=10&month=&page_no=2&paper_filter=0&search_type=&sort_by=lot_number&view=lot_detail&year=" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.romanumismatics.com/237-lot-120-attica-athens-ar-tetradrachm?arr=0&auction_id=137&box_filter=0&cat_id=2&department_id=&exclude_keyword=&export_issue=0&gridtype=listview&high_estimate=5000&image_filter=0&keyword=&list_type=list_view&lots_per_page=100&low_estimate=10&month=&page_no=2&paper_filter=0&search_type=&sort_by=lot_number&view=lot_detail&year=" rel="nofollow">https://www.romanumismatics.com/237-lot-120-attica-athens-ar-tetradrachm?arr=0&auction_id=137&box_filter=0&cat_id=2&department_id=&exclude_keyword=&export_issue=0&gridtype=listview&high_estimate=5000&image_filter=0&keyword=&list_type=list_view&lots_per_page=100&low_estimate=10&month=&page_no=2&paper_filter=0&search_type=&sort_by=lot_number&view=lot_detail&year=</a></p><p><br /></p><p>What do you think? Please post any owls or other ancients you wish.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thank you.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="robinjojo, post: 7486904, member: 110226"]As with any ancient coin, the more detail the better, especially the prevalence of irregular flans, off-center strikes, die engraving of varying levels of quality, and coin surfaces exposed to environmental factors over the course of thousands of years. Given the narrow flans of most classical owls, the focus of attention is mostly on the crest of Athena's helmet, or lack of a crest. It seems that this is a crucial factor in determining a coin's sale price on the retail market, or the hammer price at auction, even if the "full" crest comes at the expense of a nose, or chin. "Full crest" is the marketing superlative given to owls who are endowed with this feature, even if the crest really isn't full in many cases. But, as with so many other aspects of selling these coins, that feature ultimately rests in the eye of the seller and buyer. Here's an owl that I own, graded EF, that came out of Roma's E-Sale 55 (4-18-19), lot 168, where is hammered for £420, plus 20% buyer's commission of £84, for a total of £504. That equals $701.00 at today's exchange rate. 17.18 grams [ATTACH=full]1295135[/ATTACH] While this coin has a nice crest, it isn't full. It also has some weakness, probably due to die wear on the lower obverse, plus a small flan flaw just above the brow. Would this coin, on today's market, be described as having a full crest? I think that is possible, given the premium attached to this feature, and the desire of many ancient coin collectors to have one really nice type example in their collections. Another factor to consider is the flood of money entering the ancients market, creating a seemingly endless upward spiral for virtually all ancients, rare, scarce and common. It is a shame, in a way, that owls not possessing obverse crests tend to get less attention, although I have noticed during an auction that coins with nice portraits and owls sell for more than cruder, less well executed examples, but there's little doubt, to me, that the demand for an owl for many buyers and bidders is determined by the presence or absence of the crest. Here are couple of owl lots with crest detail that sold in E-Sale 83: This coin is nicer than what I posted: [URL]https://www.romanumismatics.com/237-lot-114-attica-athens-ar-tetradrachm?arr=0&auction_id=137&box_filter=0&cat_id=2&department_id=&exclude_keyword=&export_issue=0&gridtype=listview&high_estimate=5000&image_filter=0&keyword=&list_type=list_view&lots_per_page=100&low_estimate=10&month=&page_no=1&paper_filter=0&search_type=&sort_by=lot_number&view=lot_detail&year=[/URL] And one more: [URL]https://www.romanumismatics.com/237-lot-120-attica-athens-ar-tetradrachm?arr=0&auction_id=137&box_filter=0&cat_id=2&department_id=&exclude_keyword=&export_issue=0&gridtype=listview&high_estimate=5000&image_filter=0&keyword=&list_type=list_view&lots_per_page=100&low_estimate=10&month=&page_no=2&paper_filter=0&search_type=&sort_by=lot_number&view=lot_detail&year=[/URL] What do you think? Please post any owls or other ancients you wish. Thank you.[/QUOTE]
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