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Didrachm
| Issuer | Athens |
|---|---|
| Year | 545 BC - 515 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 18 mm |
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| Obverse description | Athenian owl (Athena noctua) standing facing left in three-quarter view, rendered in archaic style with large rounded head, prominent eye depicted as a raised pellet, and feathered plumage indicated by stippled beading across the breast and wing. The bird stands on a plain ground line within a raised circular border, occupying the full field of the flan. The composition is characteristic of the early Wappenmünzen series, displaying the bold, geometric aesthetic of late 6th-century Attic coinage. |
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| Mint | Athens |
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| Additional information |
These early Athenian didrachms predate the better-known tetradrachm series and belong to a transitional phase in Athenian coinage, when the city was still under Peisistratid tyranny. The specific reference cluster here — Rosen, Jameson, Kraay & Hirmer — places this among the "heraldic" group, a classification tied to stylistic evolution rather than a single mint event. Production likely shifted to tetradrachms by around 515–510 BC as Athens needed larger denominations to pay for silver extraction from Laurion.