Catalog
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| Issuer | Athens |
|---|---|
| Year | 137 BC - 136 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | Owl of Athena standing facing, with head turned to face the viewer, perched atop an amphora set upon a recumbent crescent. To the right, an olive sprig and the magistrate's symbol, a striding figure (deer or similar control mark). The entire central group is enclosed within a broad olive wreath. The ethnic ΑΘΕ and the names of the three magistrates responsible for the issue are distributed in the fields to the left and right of the owl in the characteristic New Style arrangement. A row of pellets appears at the base of the wreath. |
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| Reverse lettering | A-ΘE / MI-KI / ΘEO-ΦPA / ΣΩ |
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| Additional information |
Athens resumed large-scale silver coinage in the mid-second century BC with the so-called New Style tetradrachms, replacing the archaic "owl" type that had circulated largely unchanged for three centuries. The shift was partly practical: the new design incorporated an amphora symbol and magistrate names, allowing the Athenian assembly to track responsibility for each issue — a form of institutional accountability absent from the old coinage.
The 137/136 BC issue falls within a period when Athens operated under Roman oversight following the sack of Corinth in 146 BC, with the city navigating careful diplomatic positioning rather than genuine independence.