Athens

Historical Overview

Athens in the 5th C. BCE was marked by conflict and unrest, despite their still-powerful hold on the Mediterranean. Following the Persian War, Athens was a strong-arm for Greece, holding a large amount of power and authority all over the Mediterranean, and particularly within the Delian League of city-states it championed (Batchelor 2008). With Peisastratus as tyrant, Athens founded the Panathenaic Festival in 566 BC,and introduced the “owl-type” not long after (Seltman 1952). In 454 BC, following a failed naval expedition that weakened Athens’ supremacy, they moved the treasury of the Delian League to the Acropolis for safekeeping (Kallet and Kroll 2020). This ushered in a period of large-scale mass-production of the owl-type tetradrachm, marked by political unrest and the fall of Athens as a stronghold in the Mediterranean. 

Art Historical and Economic Overview

No other mint in Classical Greece had “so long an illustrious a record" as the mint at the Acropolis and the Owl types it produced (Thompson 1950, 151-54). With access to a wealth of high-purity silver from Attic Laureion mines, supplying ample material to produce vast quantities of trusted silver coinage (Kallet and Kroll 2020). The 17.2 g attic tetradrachm was realized at the end of the 6th century and, after some experimentation with Heraldic coin types, the “owl-type” was born. These coins bore the side-profile of Athena on their obverse, with her owl and the lettering ΑΘΕ on the reverse, representing the “real and concrete spirit of the citizens" through its symbolic design (Hegel 2001). Reason for the adoption of this coin type is speculated; some theorize it was created with the reinstating of democracy at the hands of Kleisthenes, or to develop recognition and authority in trade markets and the Mediterranean economy. While the origins of the owl-type is only speculated, its continuity is explained by the trust and power consolidated by Athens, and the use of their civic patron goddess to visually represent their divinely-backed authority. 

The period when this coin was minted was the most “voluminous phase” of Athenian coin production, giving way for the “Standardized”, less carefully-crafted, mass-produced coinage of around 449 BCE to the fall of Athens in 404 BCE (Kallet and Kroll 2020). These “Standardized” coins featured the same continuing design, but with minor artistic changes; The owl's head now stands straight, with the top leg of the “A” touching it. Athena’s wreath of olive leaves becomes more simplified, and the inner corner of her eye is left open, yet maintains its Archaic frontal perspective, in a manner common in most “Standardized” coins. By the period of “Standardized” coins, the 17.2 g “owl-type” tetradrachm was now not only a trusted monetary form in Athens, but to the Mediterranean as a whole. 

The increase in coin production in mid-5th century Athens may be explained by the 454 BCE move to Athens of the Delian League Treasury, and potentially a subsequent re-striking of non-Athenian coins from its reserves. Another explanation for the production growth could be tied to the stop in Thracian coin production around the time of Athen’s consolidation of power; if Athens gained production of the silver mines in Thrace, this would explain the large quantities of silver needed for this scale of production. 

From the 440’s to the end of Athen’s dominion in 404 BC, large-scale mass production, careful artistry was replaced by a high demand, with little consistency in the details of Athena’s face indicating a large workforce of craftsmen who were efficient but likely not masters of their craft, and more importantly, a need to pay vast sums in Athens (Kallet and Kroll 2020). With the Peloponnesian war occurring and the cost of the war growing daily, the high-volume output of coinage in Athens during the latter part of the 5th century BCE is situated in the context of war and political instability. By 407 BCE, with its economy and consolidation of power weakened by Sparta's victory in the Peloponnesian War and their failed Sicilian Expedition (Shear 1933), the high-volume minting of Athenian “Owl” tetradrachms was replaced by a transition to coining gold and silver-coated bronze coinage (Kallet and Kroll 2020), with the Athenian reserves of silver running dry. Coins like this one, with their history of mass-production and artistic continuity, are a physical remnant of the Golden Age of Athens and the silver-soaked treasury on the Acropolis. 

The Life Cycle of Athenian Coins

Oftentimes, when looking at these coins, it's easy to get sucked into the tangible, visible aspects of them including everything from the tiny details in the engravings to the historical relevance of the figures portrayed. While these elements provide indispensable insight on the political and artistic trends of the time, it can be difficult to step back and think about the bigger picture: the purpose behind the coins, the effort and constraints involved, the drawbacks and penalties faced, and the immense amount of thought that went into the minting and screening process that produced these stunning pieces of history.

Athenian coinage is special in that the general iconography stays relatively consistent throughout its relevance in society. This consistency provides a blank canvas free from visually confounding variables such as displays of political shifts, battles, or new deities. Because of this, the ‘life cycle’ of these coins can be studied from production through their everyday use in Athenian society. 

The life of this particular coin would begin in the mines at Laurion where “Athens was in an extremely fortunate position in having a virtually inexhaustible supply of precious metals within her own borders" (Jenkins 45-49). From the silver bullion, various denominations or weight standards would be separated out with the smallest – ⅛ obol – weighing only 0.09 grams to the largest rare dekadrachm weighing about 43.2 grams. This particular coin is a tetradrachm weighing about 17.28 grams and containing the Athenian trademark symbol of Athena's head on the obverse and an owl on the reverse (Mørkholm 1982).

To ensure a profit from the conversion of bullion into currency, the Athenian state imposed a process known as seigniorage. The state structure required the coined weight to be approximately 5% lighter than the commercial weight, ensuring that minting costs were covered and allowed the state to make a potential profit. This was typically taken in a fee of 5 drachms for every mina of silver produced (Mørkholm 1982).

With weighing and minting complete, and all fees paid, this freshly minted coin would enter into circulation. Tetradrachms at this time were most commonly used for export trade as they were worth roughly the average wage of a worker for four days. These larger denominations were harder to use in day to day civilian transactions, where the use of an obol or fraction of an obol would be better suited (Jenkins 45-59).

As with any monetary system, fraud and counterfeiting became areas for concern immediately following the introduction of coinage. Although the most detailed legal text concerning coinage regulation, the Law of Nikophon, dates back slightly after this coin was minted, there were likely many forms of official testing that existed prior to that (Stroud 1974). For instance, the Dokimasta of men (testers) were officials who were responsible for verifying coins. “Noramlly the city approver works ‘between the tables’, presumably those of the bankers and money-changers in the Agora, but on days where there is a 'deposit of money’, i.e. a payment of revenue made in the presence of the council he works in the bouleuterion to check the coins tendered there" (Rhodes 2004). If anyone refused to accept currency the Dokimastes had approved, they were subject to severe penalties: If a merchant refused to accept a coin approved by the Dokimastes, everything they were offering for sale that day was confiscated. If the seller was a slave, their merchandise would be confiscated and they would be beaten with fifty lashes by the overseeing magistrates (Rhodes 2004). This strict enforcement of quality and legitimacy made it possible for Athenian law to require attic silver currency to be accepted in trade, provided it was demonstrably silver and bore the official stamp (Stroud 1974). 

If a coin was found to be counterfeit or was bronze or lead at the core rather than silver, the Dokimastes were instructed to cut it to expose the fake core and prevent it from circulating further (Stroud 1974). Once defaced, “Confiscated false coins became a sacred property of the Mother of the Gods, which probably means that the Boule [a council of citizens appointed to run daily affairs] placed them in that part of the Old Bouleuterion, which housed the shrine of the Mother" (Stroud 1974). This process is rather fascinating, as even inauthentic coins were considered sacred under Athenian law. 

The facts and data we learn about ancient artifacts are often easily attributed to broad ideas and policies of their time, causing us to forget that real people used these coins. Real decisions were made about them. Real artists carved the dies to engrave them. Real civilians and political leaders relied on them for everyday transactions. The nature of this particular coin, and Athenian coinage in general, provides such a strong foundation of power and authenticity that it invites us to look past the surface-level imagery and genuinely visualize this society that is so distant it can feel nearly impossible to fully conceptualize. 

Bibliography

Batchelor, Stephen. 2008. The Ancient Greeks for Dummies. 

Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, and J. Sibree. “Part II: ‘The Greek World’, Chapter III.” The Philosophy of History, pp. 270–90. Batoche Books, 2001.

Jenkins. Chapter III, “The Fifth Century,” pp. 45–59.

Kallet, Lisa, and John H. Kroll. The Athenian Empire: Using Coins as Sources. Cambridge University Press, 2020.

Mørkholm, Otto. “Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte.” Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, vol. 31, no. 3, 1982, pp. 290–305. Franz Steiner Verlag. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4435812.

Rhodes, P. J., and Robin Osborne, editors. Greek Historical Inscriptions, 404–323 BC. Oxford University Press, 2004.

Seltman, Charles Theodore. A Book of Greek Coins. Penguin Books, 1952.

Shear, Josephine P. “The Coins of Athens.” Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, vol. 2, no. 2, 1933, pp. 231–78. https://doi.org/10.2307/146511.

Stroud, Ronald S. “An Athenian Law on Silver Coinage.” Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, vol. 43, no. 2, 1974, pp. 157–188. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/147454.

Thompson, Margaret. “The ‘Owls’ of Athens.” Archaeology, vol. 3, no. 3, 1950, pp. 151–54. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41662391.