Two interesting eastern imitation owls.

I've been focused on the Athenian owl and its numerous eastern imitations. Although hoards of Athenian owls have been found in the west, I know of no owl imitations from the western Mediterranean region. Very recently a group of eastern owls have appeared on the market, including some of the Satrap Mazakes.

So, here are the two owls, apparently from a recent hoard coming out of Iran:

Persia, imitating Athens, tetradrachm, 4th century BC.
23mm; 16.92 grams.

This owl is an imitation that I have not seen until the appearance of this hoard. There is clearly a profile figure on Athena's cheek on the obverse, which is part of the die, not a countermark. The reverse has the traditional arrangement of the crescent moon, olive leaves to the left, and the ethnic AOE to the right of a facing owl. The A is rotated to resemble what seems to be an Aramaic B (beth).

What does this obverse profile represent? It must be some kind of symbol of issuing authority, sanctioning the owl's circulation within a region or perhaps city, in Persia I would guess.

This owl is apparently unlisted - at least I have not been successful in my searches so far to find similar examples.

In terms of condition, the surfaces are what one would expect with a hoard coin: deposits of horn silver and some minor porosity. The die work, while local in nature, is not bad for an imitation of the Athenian pi style owls circulating in the region in the fourth century BC.



The next owl is more straightforward.

Persia/Egypt, imitating Athens, tetradrachm, Mazakes, 4th century BC.
20mm; 16.78 grams.



As I mentioned some of the owls listed were issued by the Persian Satrap of Egypt, Mazakes, who succeeded Sabakes in 333 BC. Following his capitulation to Alexander III, Mazakes was shortly replaced by Alexander III with Cleomenes of Naucratis, marking the end of the short–lived second Egyptian satrapy (343–332 BC) . Mazakes might have been named Satrap of Mesopotamia by Alexander, but this is not conclusive. Apparently coins with his name were produced in Mesopotamia, according to Wikipedia.

The owls of Mazakes vary in style judging from from the auction circuit and retail sellers online. I am by no means an authority on his coinage, but I can say with a good degree of certainty that his owls are generally the most available of the three Persian Satraps of Egypt issuing owls in the fourth century BC: Artaxerxes III (very rare), Sabakes, who died in the Battle of Issus in 333 BC (rare) and Mazakes (scarce).

As with other ancient coins, the owls of Mazakes often lack evidence of his name on the reverse. In some cases owls with a certain style are attributed to Mazakes. The owl above has some signs of his name on the reverse, upon close examination.

The die work is clearly cruder, compared to the first owl. The obverse die shows wear, and the owl, while quite bold, is also very crude. Could this owl be one of Mazakes' Mesopotamian issues?

Horn silver is present on both sides, typical of a hoard coin.