Athens Tetradrachm

ffcoins

I’ve been wanting to get an Athens Tetradrachm with the owl reverse for some time, but don’t know enough about them to make a buy.

I’m wondering where that sweet spot is between quality and price (would want an NGC slabbed piece), what I should look for in picking one out (I see a lot of cracked planchets and offset strikes, not sure what people happily accept and what makes a “good” example), what to avoid, etc.

Stella

Your timing is fairly good in that there are many nice examples on the market right now. A hoard came out, so your dollar will go a bit farther now than it may have in the past.

The more affordable period for a type coin would be those minted from around 440 to 404 BC, which is also likely what most collectors picture when they think of these coins. My suggestion would be to use recent auction archives from a couple of firms to compare photos of different coins that sold and get a sense for the prices and grades available.

Once you get a better idea of the approximate grade and budget you are going for, you can narrow this down and find a piece that you like. Some of this will be personal preference and eye appeal, but it generally helps to look for a coin that is well centered on the planchet and does not have scratches, banker's marks, etc.

This article also may help point you in the right direction: https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins/being-wise-about-owls-the-athenian-owl-tetradrachm/

SYRACUSIAN

Or you can go with NGC and their new history holders or whatever they’re called.... Forbidden fruit for me, UNLESS I obtain a licence of collector of ancients, only repatriating them, never allowed to resell them or trade them.

Even all this will not stop me one day, from buying both an Athenian tetradrachm and a Suracuse tetradrachm (remember that killer one that Zohar had bought?) Well if you don’t, here it is.

(ZOHAR’s COIN Mr Inspector, NOT mine...)

SYRACUSIAN

Speaking of Sicily...

Thé charioteer in the reverse is a common theme in early Italian 20th century coins.
Jacob Philip Falmeryer, an Austrian traveler , journalist, author and politician, born in 1790, died in 1861 in Munich developed a theory, with leaps of imagination that modern Greeks , are not descendants of Ancient Greeks, supposedly because the Slaves defeated them and took over Greece in the late 8th and 9th century . What the above Austrian « thinker » did not take into account, was the huge transfers of Greeks of the islands near modern Turkey that the patriarch of Constantinople encouraged if not ordered to repopulate densely the city with a pure Greek population. He also did not take into account a lot of other several historic facts, such as that the South of mainland Greece was never ever conquered neither by Slaves or Ottomans for that matter.

This so called theory of the genius Fallmeryer, served as an excuse for Hitler to commit his atrocities in Greece, but DNA as well as history and basic Geography proved that theory entirely wrong.

In fact, recent DNA tests, as recent as 2017, proved that Greeks have a very small connection with Slaves from 0.02% in Mani, in the southern end of Péloponnese to 12% in Northern Greece, with an average below 3% for the entire country.

In fact Greeks have the biggest connection in DNA with Sicilians and Southern Italians in general, to a 25% degree. Just facts.

ffcoins

@Stella

Thank you, that’s the information I was looking for.

happycollecting

@ffcoins said:
I’ve been wanting to get an Athens Tetradrachm with the owl reverse for some time, but don’t know enough about them to make a buy.

I’m wondering where that sweet spot is between quality and price (would want an NGC slabbed piece), what I should look for in picking one out (I see a lot of cracked planchets and offset strikes, not sure what people happily accept and what makes a “good” example), what to avoid, etc.

Try to avoid test cuts, banker's mark (especially on Athena's face), and cutting off nose or chin. If you are going to buy just one or two Owl Tet, I suggest staying away from the later version (so called pi type), and stick with Classical Period (440-404 BC). There are always 10-15 pieces to choose from in each major online auction, so there is no need to hurry. Also, pieces showing Athena's full crest usually command a higher premium, since they are comparatively rare.

If you like cool Owl design, I suggest you take a look at those from earlier time period, especially the Starr Group V type, which NGC designates between 465-455 BC. I personally like this Early Transition Owl design a lot better, but surely that is totally personal taste.

Stella

You are welcome, @ffcoins

Good luck on your hunt for a nice example! Just for fun, here are mine.

happycollecting

Here are 2 of mine. First one Classical Period, with full crest. The second one belongs to earlier Starr Group V.

Zohar