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Auction archive: Lot number 296

Attica, Athens AR Tetradrachm. Circa

Auction VIII (1200)
28 Sep 2014
Estimate
n. a.
Price realised:
£12,000
ca. US$19,569
Auction archive: Lot number 296

Attica, Athens AR Tetradrachm. Circa

Auction VIII (1200)
28 Sep 2014
Estimate
n. a.
Price realised:
£12,000
ca. US$19,569
Beschreibung:

Attica, Athens AR Tetradrachm. Circa 490-482 BC. Archaic head of Athena right wearing crested helmet decorated with chevron and dot pattern / Owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig behind, ΑΘΕ before. Cf. Svoronos Pl. 5; cf. Asyut pl. XVIII. 17.15g, 23mm, 11h. Extremely Fine. Athens was one of the few Greek cities with significant silver deposits in their immediate territory, a remarkable stroke of fortune upon which Xenophon reflected: 'The Divine Bounty has bestowed upon us inexhaustible mines of silver, and advantages which we enjoy above all our neighbouring cities, who never yet could discover one vein of silver ore in all their dominions.' The mines at Laurion had been worked since the bronze age, but it would be only later in 483 that a massive new vein of ore would be discovered that enabled Athens to finance grand new schemes such as the construction of a fleet of 200 triremes, a fleet that would later prove decisive in defending Greece at the Battle of Salamis.

Auction archive: Lot number 296
Auction:
Datum:
28 Sep 2014
Auction house:
Roma Numismatics Limited
20 Fitzroy Square
London, W1T 6EJ
United Kingdom
sales@romanumismatics.com
+44 (0)20 7121 6518
Beschreibung:

Attica, Athens AR Tetradrachm. Circa 490-482 BC. Archaic head of Athena right wearing crested helmet decorated with chevron and dot pattern / Owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig behind, ΑΘΕ before. Cf. Svoronos Pl. 5; cf. Asyut pl. XVIII. 17.15g, 23mm, 11h. Extremely Fine. Athens was one of the few Greek cities with significant silver deposits in their immediate territory, a remarkable stroke of fortune upon which Xenophon reflected: 'The Divine Bounty has bestowed upon us inexhaustible mines of silver, and advantages which we enjoy above all our neighbouring cities, who never yet could discover one vein of silver ore in all their dominions.' The mines at Laurion had been worked since the bronze age, but it would be only later in 483 that a massive new vein of ore would be discovered that enabled Athens to finance grand new schemes such as the construction of a fleet of 200 triremes, a fleet that would later prove decisive in defending Greece at the Battle of Salamis.

Auction archive: Lot number 296
Auction:
Datum:
28 Sep 2014
Auction house:
Roma Numismatics Limited
20 Fitzroy Square
London, W1T 6EJ
United Kingdom
sales@romanumismatics.com
+44 (0)20 7121 6518
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