Tetradrachm New style

Athens transitioned to the "New Style" tetradrachm around 164 BC, abandoning the archaic "Wappenmünzen" owl coinage that had dominated Mediterranean trade for centuries. The new series introduced annual magistrate names and symbols, making individual issues datable with unusual precision — Thompson's monumental 1961 study remains the standard reference, assigning each emission to specific magistrate combinations. The 335j designation places this piece within a tightly defined group from a single controlling magistrate sequence.

By 136–135 BC, Athens was producing these coins partly to service obligations within the Delian League's financial networks, though Macedonian and Roman pressures had already reshaped Aegean trade considerably.