ATTICA. Athens. Ca. 510/500-480 BC. AR tetradrachm (27mm, 17.27 gm, 10h). NGC AU 4/5 - 4/5. Head of Athena right, hair in straight beaded braids, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with four laurel leaves and single spiral, the crest box decorated with chevron pattern / AΘΕ, legend in arc around owl standing right with closed wings, head facing; crescent and olive sprig with two leaves and berry hanging vertically behind, all within incuse square. HGC 4, 1592 (ca. 475-470 BC). Starr Group I. Seltman Group N (475-470 BC). Rare. Solidly struck from dies of wonderful, delicate style. Ex Heritage Auctions, Auction 3089 (22 January 2021), lot 32050 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 around 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'. The owl on the reverse is thick and stout, with a very curiously engraved interpretation of the olive sprig and berry including long leaves and branches.

HID09801242017

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