ATHENS SILVER OWL TETRADRACHM – SUPERB SPECIMEN OF CA. 510 EX KOMMERZIENRAT OTTO COLLECTION SOLD IN 1931 – CHOICE XF NGC GRADED GREEK ATTICA PROVENANCED AND PUBLISHED COIN (Inv. 21370)

$13,875.00

21370. ATTICA. ATHENS. Ca. 510/500–480 BC.
Silver Tetradrachm, 17.29 g, 21 mm. Issue of the early Archaic period, ca. 510 BC.
Obv. Helmeted head of Athena right. Rev. ΑΘΕ, owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig in left field, all within incuse square.
Seltman Group Gii “Doric Style,” no. 228 (A153/P185-P187, likely this obverse die); Svoronos pl. 4, 10; HGC 4, 1589.
Ex Kommerzienrat H. Otto Collection, Adolph Hess 207, 12/1/1931, lot 436.
NGC CHOICE XF, Strike 4/5, Surface 4/5, “flan flaws,” and of outstanding Archaic style with a well-articulated eye showing full details, glossy gray patina, and nearly a century-old pedigree.
Heinrich Otto was a German industrialist specializing in textiles. He was awarded the honorary title “Kommerzienrat” by the German Reich as was the custom for persons of this rank. His coin collection was sold by Adolph Hess in 1931 after his passing earlier that year.

The obverse die of this coin is likely Seltman’s A153, while the punch (reverse die) is very much in the style of P185–P187 where the Θ in ΑΘΕ is placed extremely low on the right next to the owl’s lower belly. Particularly elegant is the laurel branch, which is finely engraved and extends downward from a long stalk. This series was struck just about the time Athens was transitioning to a democracy. In ca. 514 BC, the Peisistratid tyrant Hipparchus was murdered by the famous tyrannicides, Harmodius and Aristogeiton, indicating the discontent with the rule of tyrants that was developing in Athens and other Greek cities at the time. Although Hipparchus was immediately succeeded as tyrant by his brother Hippias, in ca. 510 BC, the year this coin was struck, he was forced into exile through the intervention of Cleomenes I of Sparta. Cleomenes established a pro-Spartan oligarchic government in Athens, but in 508–506 BC this was overthrown and replaced by a new democratic constitution framed by the celebrated Athenian lawgiver, Cleisthenes.