3-044-305 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Coin (tetradrachm) of Athens, 475-465 BC. Additional Info: The obverse of this coin shows a head of Athena in right profile, wearing a crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves above the visor and a spiral palmette on the bowl. Her hair sweeps across her forehead in two loops of parallel strands and is visible beneath the helmet's neck guard. She has an archaic smile and a frontal almond-shaped eye, an anachronistic style preferred for this coin type. The design goes to the very edge of the coin, partially cutting off Athena's chin. On the reverse, an owl stands to the right, its head turned to the front and tilted slightly. Its wing and three tail feathers are clearly delineated in high detail. There is a two-leafed olive sprig in the top left corner and a crescent, possibly a waning moon, just above the owl's wing. The inscription, ?T?, located in the bottom right, is an abbreviation of ATHENAION, "of the Athenians." This coin is one of ten Athenian tetradrachms found in a hoard of coins, ingots, and jewelry discovered in 1967 on the Jordanian-Syrian border in the region of Hauran (near the ancient city of Bostra). The hoard contained coins from over twenty mints, the majority from four areas: Athens (31), Cyprus (21), southwest Asia Minor (15) and the Thrace-Macedonian area (13).