500 Years of the Athenian "Owl": an Introduction

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In this video ANS Chief Curator Dr. Peter van Alfen reviews the long history of Athenian silver coinage, from its beginnings in the mid-sixth century BC under the tyrant Peisistratus to the culmination of Athenian silver coin production under Roman control in the first century BC.

Search the ANS’s collection of Athenian coinage: http://numismatics.org/search/results...

Coins seen in this video:

Wappenmünze with wheel, ca. 530 BC: http://numismatics.org/collection/194...

Wappenmünze with horse’s rear end, ca. 530 BC: http://numismatics.org/collection/194...

Gorgoneion, ca. 525 BC: http://numismatics.org/collection/194...

“Owl” tetradrachm, ca. 515–480 BC: http://numismatics.org/collection/195...

“Owl” tetradrachm, ca. 460 BC: http://numismatics.org/collection/194...

“Owl” decadrachm, ca. 460 BC: http://numismatics.org/collection/196...

“Owl” tetradrachm, ca. 430 BC: http://numismatics.org/collection/199...

Syracusan tetradrachm, ca. 410 BC: http://numismatics.org/collection/199...

“Pi-style” owl tetradrachm, ca. 350 BC: http://numismatics.org/collection/194...

“Four-fingered” style owl tetradrachm, ca. 280 BC: http://numismatics.org/collection/194...

“New Style” owl tetradrachm, ca. 150 BC: http://numismatics.org/collection/194...

Roman-period owl tetradrachm, ca. 70 BC: http://numismatics.org/collection/194...

For further reading:

The Athenian Empire: Using Coins as Sources: http://services.cambridge.org/us/acad...

See also Peter van Alfen’s overview of Athenian coinage in this volume:
https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/...

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