The Wonderful World of Ancient Coin Collecting
Coinage of the Roman Empire


Obverse
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Reverse
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Coin Details

  

Set Details
Coin Description:
Grade: NGC Ch VF Surface: 2/5 Surface: 2/5
Grade Comment: horn silver
Owner: RAM-VT
 
Set Category: Ancients
Set Name: The Wonderful World of Ancient Coin Collecting
Slot Name: Coinage of the Roman Empire
Research: Currently not available

Owner's Description

Attica. Athens Silver "old-style" tetradrachm, 454-404 BC. Sear #2526 Grade: Ch VF; Strike 4/5; Surface 2/5 Horn Silver Census - NGC does not provide census info on ancient coins :>( Obv. Head of Athena right, weating crested helmet ornamented with olive leaves, palmette and spiral, hair drawn across forehead in parallel curves. Rev. Owl standing right, ?T?(NS), olive sprig and crescent moon behind, all within incuse square. This tetradrachm was the the world’s first trade coin. The owls, as they were called on account of the image on the reverse, were minted from 510 to 38 BC. During all that time the design remained unchanged. The owl was the attribute of the city goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom. By far the largest number of these coins was minted around the mid-5th century BC, when the Greek cities in the Delian League had to send tribute payments of 5,000 talents to Athens. These tributes were used in the main for constructing the Pantheon and other large buildings. Athena was a special case among antique deities as she was the only goddess who was depicted on coins of diverse cities. At first, the two competing trade towns of Athens and Corinth introduced Athena's head on their money at the end of the 6th century BC. To distinguish the coins of the two towns, the goddess was depicted with different helmets: On coins from Athens she wore an Attic helmet, and on those of Corinth a Corinthian one. Toward the end of the 5th century, more and more cities began to issue their own coins, and many of them regarded Athena as their city patron too. For this reason the goddess eventually appeared on coins of various cities. Athens is one of the oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for at least 7000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BCE and its cultural achievements during the 5th century BCE laid the foundations of western civilization. The name of Athens derives from goddess Athena, its patron goddess. Both Athena and Poseidon requested to be patrons of the city and to give their name to it, so they competed with one another for the honour, offering the city one gift each. Poseidon produced a spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. Athena created the olive tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. The Athenians, under their ruler Cecrops, accepted the olive tree and named the city after Athena. My cost was $518.00

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