Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3044 3-4 January 2016
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Ancients
ATTICA. Athens. Ca. 454-440 BC. AR tetradrachm (27mm, 16.83 gm, 4h). Late "transitional" issue. Head of Athena right wearing Attic helmeted ornamented with vine scroll and three laurel leaves / ΑΘΕ, owl standing right, head facing; olive sprig and crescent behind; all within incuse square. Starr pl. XXII, 8´. Kroll 8. A piece of lovely style, well centered and deeply struck on an immense flan, displaying Athena's full helmet crest, with a wonderful lifelike owl. Edge splits due to heavy strike. NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5. Although this tetradrachm depicts an owl with its three tail feathers in a single prong, which technically places it among the "mass coinage" issues dated 454-404 BC, the lifelike owl and Athena's expressive compressed lips place otherwise place it very close to Starr's Group V, theoretically struck before the mass issues of the later fifth century BC. On artistic grounds it must be placed at the very beginning of this era.
Estimate: 1800-2400 USD
ATTICA. Athens. Ca. 454-440 BC. AR tetradrachm (27mm, 16.83 gm, 4h). Late "transitional" issue. Head of Athena right wearing Attic helmeted ornamented with vine scroll and three laurel leaves / ΑΘΕ, owl standing right, head facing; olive sprig and crescent behind; all within incuse square. Starr pl. XXII, 8´. Kroll 8. A piece of lovely style, well centered and deeply struck on an immense flan, displaying Athena's full helmet crest, with a wonderful lifelike owl. Edge splits due to heavy strike. NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5. Although this tetradrachm depicts an owl with its three tail feathers in a single prong, which technically places it among the "mass coinage" issues dated 454-404 BC, the lifelike owl and Athena's expressive compressed lips place otherwise place it very close to Starr's Group V, theoretically struck before the mass issues of the later fifth century BC. On artistic grounds it must be placed at the very beginning of this era.
Estimate: 1800-2400 USD