Tetradrammo (AR)¹, zecca di Atene, 454-415 a. C., Head pag. 369

Descrizione sommaria:
D. Testa di Atena a destra dall'occhio frontale, con elmo attico crestato, decorato con palmetta a spirale sulla calotta e con tre foglie di ulivo sopra la visiera, pendente circolare all'orecchio.
R. Civetta stante a destra di tre quarti, testa frontale, rametto d'ulivo e crescente lunare dietro. Davanti ΑΘΕ². Tutto in quadrato incuso.

La ricerca nel web di monete di tipologia identica a quella di figura ha prodotto i seguenti risultati:

1. http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=4749 Source Gemini, LLC Auction V (06.01.2009) Lot 93  ( «  |  » ) Price 26000 USD Description Attica. Athens. Silver tetradrachm (16.87 gm). Attica. Athens, Ca. 475-465 BC. Head of Athena right, with frontal eye and wavy hair above forehead, in crested Attic helmet ornamented with three olive leaves above visor and spiral palmette on bowl, wearing round earring with central boss / ΑΘΕ, owl standing three-quarters right, olive sprig and crescent moon behind, outlines of square die visible. Starr Group II C. cf. pl. viii, 69. Extremely rare. Exquisite, perfectly centered head of Athena in extremely high relief. Some porosity on reverse. About extremely fine/good very fine. Displayed at Cincinnati Art Museum, 1994-2008, no. 22. Acquired from Harlan J. Berk, July 1995. This coin is from Starr Group II, the small class of Athenian tetradrachms struck after the battle of Marathon. Group II C, to which this tetradrachm belongs, also included the famous Athenian decadrachms. The Group II tetradrachms are much rarer than those of Starr Group IV or V. Estimate: US$10000.
2. http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=5035 Source Gemini, LLC Auction V (06.01.2009) Lot 94  ( «  |  » ) Price 3250 USD Description Attica. Athens. Silver tetradrachm (17.15 gm). Attica. Athens, Ca. 465/2 BC. Head of Athena right, with frontal eye and smooth loop of hair over forehead, in crested Attic helmet ornamented with three olive leaves above visor and spiral palmette on bowl, wearing round earring with central boss / ΑΘΕ, owl with three tail feathers standing three-quarters right, olive sprig and crescent moon behind, outlines of square die visible. Starr Group V A, cf. pl. xvii, 172. Cf. Kraay-Hirmer 361. Beautiful owl head. Extremely fine.
   Displayed at Cincinnati Art Museum, 1994-2008, no. 23 (reverse illustrated in guide). Acquired from Harlan J. Berk, October 1976. Estimate: US$5000.
3. http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=5036 Source Gemini, LLC Auction V (06.01.2009) Lot 95  ( «  |  » ) Price 5250 USD Description Attica. Athens. Silver tetradrachm (17.19 gm). Attica. Athens, Ca. 454 BC. Head of Athena right, with frontal eye and smooth loop of hair over forehead, in crested Attic helmet ornamented with three olive leaves above visor and spiral palmette on bowl, wearing round earring with central boss / ΑΘΕ, owl with small eyes and "prong" tail standing three-quarters right, olive sprig and crescent moon behind, outlines of square die visible. Starr pl. xxii, 3'. Svoronos pl. 12, 1-11. Unexpectedly beautiful high relief tetradrachm of the post-Starr groups. Mint state. Acquired from Harlan J. Berk, December 1986. Estimate: US$5000.
4. http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=5037 Source Gemini, LLC Auction V (06.01.2009) Lot 96  ( «  |  » ) Price 8000 USD Description Attica. Athens. Silver tetradrachm (17.17 gm). Attica. Athens, Ca. 454-430 BC. Head of Athena right, with frontal eye and smooth loop of hair over forehead, in crested Attic helmet ornamented with three olive leaves above visor and spiral palmette on bowl, wearing round earring with central boss / ΑΘΕ, owl with "prong" tail standing three-quarters right, olive sprig and crescent moon behind, outlines of square die visible. Cf. Starr pl. xxii, 6'. Cf. Svoronos pl. 12, 16; pl. 13, 5-9. Beautifully modeled high relief obverse and reverse. Finest style. Mint state. Displayed at Cincinnati Art Museum, 1994-2008, no. 25. Acquired from Harlan J. Berk, December 1990. Estimate: US$4000.
   
5. http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=5038 Gemini, LLC > Auction V Auction date: 6 January 2009 Lot number: 97 Price realized: 5,250 USD   Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. Lot description: Attica. Athens. Silver tetradrachm (16.81 gm). Attica. Athens, Ca. 454-430 BC. Head of Athena right, with frontal eye and smooth loop of hair over forehead, in crested Attic helmet ornamented with three olive leaves above visor and spiral palmette on bowl, wearing round earring with central boss / ΑΘΕ, owl with "prong" tail standing three-quarters right, olive sprig and crescent moon behind, outlines of square die visible. Cf. Starr pl. xxii, 2' (obverse) and 6'(reverse). Cf. Svoronos pl. 13, 4-6. Perfectly centered and of wonderful style. Mint state. Acquired from Harlan J. Berk, October 1987.Estimate: US$3000.
6. http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=5041 Source Gemini, LLC Auction V (06.01.2009) Lot 100  ( «  |  » ) Price 1900 USD Description Attica. Athens. Silver tetradrachm (17.15 gm). Attica. Athens, Ca. 393-350 BC. Head of Athena right with profile eye in crested Attic helmet ornamented with three olive leaves above visor and spiral palmette on bowl, wearing round earring with central boss / ΑΘΕ, owl of late style standing three-quarters right, olive sprig and crescent moon behind. Svoronos pl. 21, 24-26. Excellent example of this normally carelessly struck issue. Extremely fine. Acquired from Harlan J. Berk, January 1985. Estimate: US$750.
7. http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=5042 Source Gemini, LLC Auction V (06.01.2009) Lot 101  ( «  |  » ) Price 500 USD Description Attica. Athens. Silver tetradrachm (17.19 gm). Attica. Athens, Ca. 350-294 BC. Head of Athena right with profile eye in crested Attic helmet ornamented with three olive leaves above visor and spiral palmette of "pi" style on bowl, wearing round earring with central boss / ΑΘΕ, owl of late style standing three-quarters right, olive sprig and crescent moon behind. Nicolet- Pierre and Kroll, AJN 2 (1990), pl. i, pi-1-pi-4. Svoronos pl. 20. Toned extremely fine. Displayed at Cincinnati Art Museum, 1994-2008, no. 26. Acquired from Harlan J. Berk, May 1988. Estimate: US$500.
8. http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=7616 Source Hess-Divo AG Auction 309 (28.04.2008) Lot 56  ( «  |  » ) Price 800 CHF (~774 USD) Description GREEK COINS ATTICA ATHENS. Imitation of an Athenian Tetradrachm (Silver) circa 400 BC, uncertain Eastern mint. Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet adorned with three olive leaves over visor and a palmette on the bowl / / AQ[E]. Owl standing right, head facing, olive spray and crescent behind; all within incuse square. Starr -; Svoronos -; SNG ANS -; SNG Cop. -. 16.79 g.  Extremely rare. Extremely fine The high quality of this imitation, as well as its fabric, suggest a mint in either Phoenicia or Philisto-Arabia. "Carrying owls to Athens" In the ancient world, the Athenian Tetradrachms belonged to one of the most widely circulated currencies. Like the U.S. Dollar in our times, the Athenian Tetradrachms were widely accepted around the Meditaranean and the frontier regions of the Near East. Its popularity was based on the longterm stability of the finesse of silver and the high volume of mintage. The silver for the production of the Athenian Tetradrachms originated from the rich mines of Laurion. Like any well known brand today, the Athenian Tetradrachms with the recurring motif of the head of Athena on one side and the owl on the other side, were soon imitated by various local authorities. The coin on offer here, is an excellent example of such an imitation done in remarkable style. Estimate: 1000 CHF.
9. http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=7699 Source Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. Auction Triton XI (08.01.2008) Lot 335  ( «  |  » ) Price 2000 USD Description PHARONIC KINGS of EGYPT. Uncertain pharaoh. Time of the 28th-30th dynasties, circa 400-350 BC. AR Tetradrachm (17.03 g, 9h). Imitating Athens. Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves over visor and a spiral palmette on the bowl / AQE, owl standing right, head facing; olive sprig and crescent behind; all within incuse square. Flament style X; Van Alfen pl. 11. EF, light earthen dusting. Exceptional preservation and metal. Prior to the introduction of Macedonian issues beginning in the late fourth century BC, Egypt relied upon the use of imitations of Athenian tetradrachms for its international transactions. Although its presence as a major power in the eastern Mediterranean extended over two millennia, Egypt had never struck its own currency, relying instead on payment-in-kind and specie payments. By the end of the sixth century BC, the presence of Greek traders drastically altered this arrangement. Beginning with the establishment of Naukratis in the Delta, Greek coin-types, along with a steady supply of silver, flowed into Lower Egypt. There some of this material was melted and re-struck into into more localized imitative types, which then circulated into Phoenicia and points eastward. One is the 1989 Syria Hoard, containing numerous examples of these imitative types, as well as examples from the final period of Egypt as a Persian satrapy. Although the Persian Empire already had a long and well-established monetary system, these imitative Athenian tetrdrachms circulated in areas in which they were already a recognized and accepted currency, allowing the satrapy of Egypt to continue its trade in those areas unimpeded. For a more detailed discussion of Athenian imitations in Egypt, see P. van Alfen, “Owls From the 1989 Syria Hoard,” AJN Second Series, 14 (2002), pp. 1-58. Estimate: 1000 USD.
10. http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=9816 Source Gemini, LLC Auction V (06.01.2009) Lot 91  ( «  |  » ) Price 47500 USD Description Attica. Athens. Silver tetradrachm (16.70 gm). Attica. Athens, Ca. 515-510 BC. Head of Athena right with frontal eye, finely modeled cheek, and curved bangs ending in small curls, in crested Attic helmet ornamented with spiral at back of bowl, wearing round earring with central pellet / ΑΘΕ, owl standing three-quarters right, five leaf olive sprig behind, outline of square die visible. Seltman Group L, 344 (A224/P286), pl. xv. Svoronos pl. 6, 16 (same dies). Asyut Group III, 261-265. Extremely rare. Reverse somewhat weakly struck. Extremely fine/very fine. Displayed at Cincinnati Art Museum, 1994-2008, no. 20 (obverse illustrated in guide). Acquired from Harlan J. Berk, December 1986. This tetradrachm comes from a group that Seltman ascribed to the "civic mint" and placed wrongly at the end of the pre-Marathon issues of Athens. Tetradrachms of Seltman's Groups H and L have turned up in hoards with gorgoneion tetradrachms, the last of the Wappenmunzen types, providing evidence that Seltman's Groups H and L were the earliest of the Athenian "owls." The head of Athena on the obverse of this coin is so intense and so sensitively modeled that it has a sculptural quality reminiscent of the East Greek korai found on the Athenian Acropolis. The reverse shows an olive sprig with multiple leaves that places this issue firmly at the beginning of the "owl" series, when the Athenians were still experimenting with different variations on the Athena/owl types before settling on the two-leaf olive sprig. Estimate: US$50000.
11. http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=9817 Source Gemini, LLC Auction V (06.01.2009) Lot 104  ( «  |  » ) Price 3000 USD Description EASTERN IMITATION OF ATHENS. Silver tetradrachm (16.82 gm). . , Probably before 490 BC. Head of Athena right in crested Attic helmet ornamented with spiral on bowl / ΑΘΕ, owl standing three-quarters right, olive sprig behind, outlines of square die visible. Unpublished? Perfectly centered extremely fine. Acquired from Harlan J. Berk, February 1991. This coin is a contemporary imitation of a pre-Marathon Athenian tetradrachm, probably struck in Egypt or the Levant no later than 490 BC.
    Estimate: US$5000.
12. http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=9976 Source LHS Numismatik AG Auction 100 (23.04.2007) Lot 245  ( «  |  » ) Price 10000 CHF (~8260 USD) Description Attica-Crete Athens, Attica Estimate: CHF 4'500.00 Tetradrachm (Silver, 17.00 g 10), c. 490. Helmeted head of Athena to right, with very prominent archaic features and a large facing eye. Rev. [] Owl standing right, head facing; to left, olive spray. Dewing 1588 var. Seltman 57 ff. Svoronos pl. 2, 21. Fresh, of good metal, and struck in high relief with an obverse head of remarkable archaic style. Some minor bangs, otherwise, good very fine. From the collection of R. Maly, acquired from M. Dürr in 1975 and said to have been found in Sicily.
13. http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=10251 Source Leu Numismatik AG Auction 83 (06.05.2002) Lot 229  ( «  |  » ) Description THE GREEK WORLD ATTICA Athens Estimate: CHF 9'500.00 Tetradrachm (Silver, 17.10g 3), c. 500. Head of Athena to right, wearing plain Attic helmet with crest indicated by a dotted zigzag pattern, disc earring, and with her hair indicated by lines ending in dotted spirals. Rev. Owl standing to right, head facing; behind, olive spray. Asyut 326 var. Seltman 405. SNG Lockett 1811. Svoronos pl. 4, 31 ff. An attractive, well-struck example. About extremely fine. Acquired in 1969 and very possibly ex Asyut, but unrecorded.
    

Un saluto cordiale.
Giulio De Florio

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Note:

(1) Tetradrammo (argento). Raccolgo in tabella le caratteristiche fisiche dei tetradrammi della tipologia di figura  tratte dai link di cui sopra: