Description
Attica, Athens, time of the ‘Delian’ League, Silver Tetradrachm (17.19g, 23mm, Attic standard), ‘Mass Classical’ (‘Athenian Imperial’) issue, circa 454-404 BC. Obverse: Head of Athena facing to the right, wearing crested Attic helmet ornamented with three olive leaves above visor and spiral palmette on bowl, round earring with central boss and pearl necklace; her hair flows in parallel lines. Reverse: Athenian Owl stands right, head turned facing forward, olive sprig and crescent to upper left, “AΘE” (‘AΘENAION’) downward to right; all within incuse square. Kroll-8; SNG Copenhagen-31. A lovely example of the ‘Mass Classical’ Athenian owl which saw immense production and pervasive circulation across the entirety of the Athenian Empire for the 50-year period, deeply toned and well centred showing much headdress, worn obverse die, Extremely Fine.
Before this period, Athenian coins were struck in smaller, more artistic batches (known as the Archaic or Transitional phases). Everything changed in 454 BC, when the Athenian statesman Pericles moved the treasury of the Delian League from the sacred island of Delos directly to the Athenian Acropolis. Athens seized this massive reserve of allied silver and began melting it down to finance its local empire, funding projects such as the Parthenon and the Propylaea, the daily wage of their maritime workforce, and later the war effort against Sparta during the Peloponnesian War. The design of the Mass Classical Tetradrachm was kept the same: the obverse featuring a stylized, slightly archaic form of Athena wearing a crested Attic helmet, and the reverse an Athenian owl. This decision was made for logical reasons: merchants across the Ancient Greek world recognized the rigid, archaic look as a guarantee of high purity silver coinage immediately – any changes to this design may cause implicit distrust or suspicion of counterfeiting. With control of the Delian League as well as its treasury, this period is commonly referred to as the ‘Athenian Imperial’ period, and only ended in 404 BC when they were defeated by Sparta who tore down the walls of Athens and plundered its treasury. Naturally, with no silver reserves the ‘Mass Classical’ owl’s production ended, and the Athenian tetradrachm would cease production for many decades, returning in the 4th century BC with a more lifelike design.
