Attica, Athens; AR Tetradrachm; circa 375-350 BC.
Obv. Head of Athena to the right, wearing a crested Attic helmet ornamented with three olive leaves above visor and a spiral palmette.
Rv. Owl standing to the right with head facing; an olive branch and a crescent behind, ΑΘΕ before.
Silver, 16.81 g, 19/20 mm, 9h. see SNG COP 63; Kroll, Athenian... I.6-12, II.1-7; Kroll, Reminting... fig. 5-10.
Grade: VF, darkly toned.
The coin was struck on a too narrow but very thick flan with a layered structure. It is possible that silver scrap was used to make the flan, including previously produced tetradrachms - cf. Kroll, Reminting.... The palmette on the helmet most closely corresponds to the "Pi-II" type according to Bingen, dating to the period after 353. Layered technique flans with a diameter too small to accommodate all the details of the representations also fit the times after 353. Similarly, the small, squinty eye of Athena shown in profile, although this feature also occurs in earlier variants. In contrast, the position of the alpha in the reverse legend at the height of the owl's head more closely corresponds to earlier variants from the 4th century (Kroll fig. 4a-e), although it also occasionally occurs in the "Pi-I" subgroup, e.g. Kroll fig. 5d . Alpha's form - widely spaced arms and slight tilt - is also more consistent with issues from before the mass piercing of older tetradrachms. Similarly, the orientation of the dies at 9h occurs more often in coins from the first half of the 4th century than in all variants of "Pi". A very interesting coin for further research, having features of early and late fourth-century Athenian tetradrachm coinage.
