National Currency Collection

Ancient Greece, tetradrachm : 413 BC

Story

Deities inspire monetary confidence

If you are a powerful ruler wanting to inspire confidence in your currency, you put your head on it, right? Not necessarily. For one thing, famous as you think you are, the folks in the countryside are unlikely to know what you look like. So why not go straight to the top and put the head of a goddess on the your coin? Athena was the goddess of wisdom, courage, strength and justice - pretty sound credentials for a currency’s patroness in ancient Greece.

Item Details

Categorization

Collection
Coin
Class
Ancient
Name
Precious metal
Form
Circulating

Locations

Country
Ancient Greece
Province
Attica
City
Athens

Denominations

Tetradrachm

Dates

Period of issue
449 BC - 413 BC

Period Events

Period
Classical

Designs

Subject Obverse
Deity - religion
Subject Reverse
Owl - bird - animal
Motif Obverse
Head of Athena
Motif Reverse
Owl with olive-spray and crescent
Text Reverse
AΘE

Specifications

Preparation Method
Hand struck

Measurements

Object

Diameter
25.80mm

Materials

Object
Silver