★ Very interesting ★

*Important historical context*
Attica, Athens AE Fourree Tetradrachm (Bronze, 14.55g, 25mm) ca 353-294 BC
Obv: Helmeted head of Athena right, with profile eye.
Rev: AΘE, Owl standing right, head facing; olive sprig and crescent to left; all within incuse square.
Ref: HGC 4, 1599
The silver and lead mines at Laurion had been supplying Athens with the metal to mint its coins since the time of Themistocles, at least 483 BC. The Athenians mined more and more silver and lead as mining methods improved. Until the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War (431), the supply route was by land or sea. But in 413, Sparta, on the advice of a fugitive - the Athenian Alcibiades - occupied Dekeleia, blocking the land route. But the sea route remained available. In 407, the Spartan fleet, financed by the Persian king, defeated the Athenian fleet at Aegospotamoi. The Lacedaemonians and their allies began a blockade of the ports of Attica. To continue financing their war needs, the Athenians were forced to use all their gold reserves. Among other things, they melted down golden Nike statuettes into gold replacement issues. When there was a shortage of precious metal, the mint was forced to officially issue bronze "owls". Under Archon Callias in 406/5 BC, suberat "owls" were issued, i.e. coins with a silvery surface and a copper core, against which Aristophanes protested in 405 BC (Frogs, 725–726). Tetradrachms and drachmas of this type are preserved in a rare treasure (IGCH 46) from Piraeus (1902) and currently exhibited in the Numismatic Museum in Athens. It was substitute money for the duration of the war. Later, probably after the victory of the Persian and Athenian fleet at Knidos in 394 over the Sparta armada, they were withdrawn from circulation.