Watch List notes:

Attica, Athens. Tetradrachm; Attica, Athens; c. 515-510 BC, Tetradrachm, 16.85g. Seltman-328, Asyut-Group III. Obv: Helmeted head of Athena r. Rx: Owl standing r., head front, olive twig with two leaves before, ?T? in l. field. Seltman's "Civic Mint" issue, though misnamed by him and dated too late, contained some very interesting coins, including the earliest to bear the famous Athena/owl types at Athens in our opinion. According to Seltman, the tetradrachms of this group were "superior in technique and style" and "the finest medallic coins ever produced in Athens"; Athena's features and helmet on the obverse were "carefully and effectively treated", while the owls on the reverse were "of special merit", "reminiscent of the style of the vase-painters of the period". This class, in our view, was a trial or experimental group like the earliest Croesus coins. The present coin in particular supports that idea, for its reverse type, struck in extremely high relief, places the olive branch at the lower right of the design rather than the upper left as usual, forcing the ethnic to be placed to the left rather that the right of the owl. This variant type occurs only on this one reverse die, otherwise known only from a coin in Berlin published by Seltman and Svoronos, which was struck from a similar but not the same obverse die. Ex Berk 197, 27 April 2016, lot 88. Ex Heinz Kowalski collection, Brussels, 1970s. A coin from the same collection in the recent Triton XXIII sale (lot 252) had some corrosion and flat striking and showed the olive leaf on the reverse in the standard position, yet it brought, with commission, $90,000.. EF

Estimate: $60000