Birds of a Feather...

The emblematic owl peers from a silver Tetradrachm minted in Attica/Athens nearly 2,500 years ago. The obverse, not shown, shows the goddess Athena wearing a crested Attic helmet. The coin weighs 17.02 gms, fairly standard for this domination.

Although my primary interest is U.S. coins, I do collect some ancients for their beauty and history.

An early eagle appearance...

The coin on the right dates from 285-246 BC and was produced under Ptolemy II  Philadelphos, king of Greek-controlled Egypt.

The rather scrawny eagle is said to be a forerunner of many of the eagles that adorned U.S. coins for more than 200 years. The denomination also was a Tetradrachm, although this coin, at 14.18 gms, is somewhat smaller than the other Tetradrachm shown here.

Obverse, with a diademed head of Ptolemy I, is not shown.

Back to Home Page