The Owl of Athens Coin
Denomination: Tetradrachm
Ruler: Greek City-States
Mint: Attica, Athens, Greece
Date: Circa 5th Century B.C.
Metal: Silver
Framing: 14K
Certificate: 51846
Obverse: Head of Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle, facing right, wearing crested helmet ornamented with three olive-leaves and floral scroll.
Reverse: Owl standing right, head facing forward, in erect posture. To left, moon crescent and olive leaves, to right AOE, translated as “of the Athenians.”
Owls were considered by the Greeks to be significant, wise, and important birds. Besides being mentioned in early Greek poerty, they were also associated with the goddess Athena. Consequently, when the Athenians formed a democratic system in the early 5th Century B.C., they commemorated the event by issuing the famous owl coins (a bird sacred to the goddess Athena) which featured an upright owl on one side and the head of Athena on the other. Throughout the first decade of the fifth Century B.C., these coins were struck in abundance concurrent with the discovery of large quantities of silver ore at the Lavrion silver mines and the rapid expansion of Athenian naval superiority.
Denomination: Tetradrachm
Ruler: Greek City-States
Mint: Attica, Athens, Greece
Date: Circa 5th Century B.C.
Metal: Silver
Framing: 14K
Certificate: 51846
Obverse: Head of Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle, facing right, wearing crested helmet ornamented with three olive-leaves and floral scroll.
Reverse: Owl standing right, head facing forward, in erect posture. To left, moon crescent and olive leaves, to right AOE, translated as “of the Athenians.”
Owls were considered by the Greeks to be significant, wise, and important birds. Besides being mentioned in early Greek poerty, they were also associated with the goddess Athena. Consequently, when the Athenians formed a democratic system in the early 5th Century B.C., they commemorated the event by issuing the famous owl coins (a bird sacred to the goddess Athena) which featured an upright owl on one side and the head of Athena on the other. Throughout the first decade of the fifth Century B.C., these coins were struck in abundance concurrent with the discovery of large quantities of silver ore at the Lavrion silver mines and the rapid expansion of Athenian naval superiority.
Denomination: Tetradrachm
Ruler: Greek City-States
Mint: Attica, Athens, Greece
Date: Circa 5th Century B.C.
Metal: Silver
Framing: 14K
Certificate: 51846
Obverse: Head of Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle, facing right, wearing crested helmet ornamented with three olive-leaves and floral scroll.
Reverse: Owl standing right, head facing forward, in erect posture. To left, moon crescent and olive leaves, to right AOE, translated as “of the Athenians.”
Owls were considered by the Greeks to be significant, wise, and important birds. Besides being mentioned in early Greek poerty, they were also associated with the goddess Athena. Consequently, when the Athenians formed a democratic system in the early 5th Century B.C., they commemorated the event by issuing the famous owl coins (a bird sacred to the goddess Athena) which featured an upright owl on one side and the head of Athena on the other. Throughout the first decade of the fifth Century B.C., these coins were struck in abundance concurrent with the discovery of large quantities of silver ore at the Lavrion silver mines and the rapid expansion of Athenian naval superiority.