Ancient Attica Athens Silver Athena Owl Tetradrachm

  
Helmeted head of Athena right, with frontal eye / Owl standing right, head facing, closed tail feathers; olive sprig and crescent to left; all within incuse square. Struck sometime between 440 and 404 B. This Greek Silver Tetradrachm was minted in Athens, the capital city of Attica, a region of the Greek empire.

It features perhaps the most iconic and instantly recognizable designs found on ancient coinage: the Athenian Owl, flanked by the crescent moon, olive branch, and monogram of its city of origin. The obverse features the goddess Athena herself, protected by her beautifully designed helmet.

Part of what makes these coins so iconic is that they are the first mass-circulated coin ever produced! In fact, many of the skilled laborers and soldiers who were paid with these coins simply had no idea what a coin was, resulting in many coins being marked with knives or other instruments used to cut into their surface and confirm their contents. This item is in the category "Coins & Paper Money\Coins: Ancient\Greek (450 BC-100 AD)". The seller is "jerusalemhadaya2012" and is located in this country: IL. This item can be shipped worldwide.