Heritage World Coin Auctions
Long Beach Signature Sale 3067 6-7 Sep 2018
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Ancients
ATTICA. Athens. Ca. 510/500-480 BC. AR tetradrachm (21mm, 16.99 gm, 4h). NGC Choice XF 4/5 - 4/5. Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet, the crest box ornamented with chevron pattern / AΘΕ, owl standing right with closed wings, head facing, olive sprig behind, all within incuse square. HGC 12, 590. Svoronos pl. 6. Seltman group L, 338-342. Rare, particularly this well made and preserved. A choice example displaying the full head and crest of Athena.
The earliest "owl" coinage of Athens coincides with the momentous expulsion of the last tyrants and the city's adoption of the world's first democracy. The quality of this coinage veers sharply between dies of remarkable crudity, comprising most of the coins struck, and a limited number of issues displaying great refinement. The great disparity in artistic quality led Seltman to propose an "imperial" mint in the Attic or Thracian hinterlands, staffed by artists of little or no talent, and a "civic" mint whose engravers displayed the full virtues and vigor of archaic art. In the latter category falls this lovely tetradrachm struck in the last decade of the sixth century BC. The head of Athena exhibits a pleasant profile and her lips are drawn into a tight "archaic smile"; also notable are the arrangement of hair along the brow line, so reminiscent of the marble koroi and reliefs that exemplify the era. The helmet is undecorated and the broad crest is defined just enough to suggest horsehair. The reverse owl is likewise a well-proportioned creature, somewhat slimmer than later incarnations and standing proudly erect.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 3000-4000 USD
ATTICA. Athens. Ca. 510/500-480 BC. AR tetradrachm (21mm, 16.99 gm, 4h). NGC Choice XF 4/5 - 4/5. Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet, the crest box ornamented with chevron pattern / AΘΕ, owl standing right with closed wings, head facing, olive sprig behind, all within incuse square. HGC 12, 590. Svoronos pl. 6. Seltman group L, 338-342. Rare, particularly this well made and preserved. A choice example displaying the full head and crest of Athena.
The earliest "owl" coinage of Athens coincides with the momentous expulsion of the last tyrants and the city's adoption of the world's first democracy. The quality of this coinage veers sharply between dies of remarkable crudity, comprising most of the coins struck, and a limited number of issues displaying great refinement. The great disparity in artistic quality led Seltman to propose an "imperial" mint in the Attic or Thracian hinterlands, staffed by artists of little or no talent, and a "civic" mint whose engravers displayed the full virtues and vigor of archaic art. In the latter category falls this lovely tetradrachm struck in the last decade of the sixth century BC. The head of Athena exhibits a pleasant profile and her lips are drawn into a tight "archaic smile"; also notable are the arrangement of hair along the brow line, so reminiscent of the marble koroi and reliefs that exemplify the era. The helmet is undecorated and the broad crest is defined just enough to suggest horsehair. The reverse owl is likewise a well-proportioned creature, somewhat slimmer than later incarnations and standing proudly erect.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 3000-4000 USD