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Greek Coins :
Athenian Coins : Attic Silver Tetradrachm
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Attic Silver Tetradrachm - C.4158
Origin: City of Athens
Circa: 5
th
Century BC
Dimensions:
0.750" (1.9cm) high
17.1Grams
Collection: Numismatics
$2,700.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
Obverse, head of Athena in left profile, wearing
laurel wreath; reverse, ?T?, right; Owl standing
right, centre; olive sprig and crescent moon in
field,
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 early issue marks the perpetuation of a
minting
tradition that would endure and remain little
changed for over two centuries thereafter.
- (C.4158)
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