|
HOME :
Greek Coins :
Athenian Coins : Athenian Silver Tetradrachm
|
 |
|
|
|
Athenian Silver Tetradrachm - LC.260
Origin: City of Athens
Circa: 449
BC
to 413
BC
Weight: 17.2Grams
Collection: Numismatics
Medium: Silver
Additional Information: Currently in Korea_ 2020.05.14
£2,500.00
Location: UAE
|
|
|
| Photo Gallery |
|
|
| Description |
Obverse, laureate head of the goddess
Athena in
left profile; reverse, Owl standing on
olive branch,
centre; ???, right; crescent moon and
olive-sprig,
top-left.
The tetradrachm – a silver coin
equivalent to four
drachmae – first came into circulation
in Athens in
510 BC, replacing the earlier
“heraldic” type of
currency. The tetradrachm became the
most
authoritative coinage of Classical
Greece and was
soon adopted by many other city-states
of ancient
Greece.
The obverse of these archetypal coins
is always the
head of Athena, the goddess who gave
her name to
the capital and the reverse always
features an owl,
the iconographic symbol of the
Athenian polis; an
olive-sprig and crescent moon are
customarily seen
in the field. According to the ancient
sources, this
type of coinage was vernacularly known
as “little
owl”, which clearly distinguished it
as Athenian.
State-owned silver mines provided the
bullion,
which was used to fund building
projects in Athens
such as the reconstruction of the
Acropolis and
erection of the Parthenon.
This example, produced almost one
hundred years
after the issue was first minted,
marks the
perpetuation of a tradition that would
endure and
remain little changed for over two
centuries
thereafter.
- (LC.260)
|
| |
|
