Issuing authority

Athens (Classical)

Classical Athenian city-state, issuer of the silver tetradrachm known as the "owl".

Kind: city-state
Region: Attica, Greece, Europe
Recorded period: 508 BC – 322 BC

Coinage of the classical Athenian polis; not to be filed under the modern Hellenic Republic.

Objects are filed under the historical authority that actually issued or made them. A recorded period comes from the issuer's own reference description and is left blank where no source states it.

Published entries

Individual types and documented families

With photographs

100%

2 with a credited real-object photo

Verified or well documented

Highest two confidence levels

Catalogue entries (2)

Filter these entries by era, material or confidence

Sorted by date, earliest first.

Cleveland Museum of Art

ancient coins

Tetradrachm: Head of Athena (obverse); Owl (Cleveland Museum of Art, 3 objects)

449–407 BCE

Incorporating the first three letters of the city name—ΑΘΕ—with then-iconic images of the patron goddess Athena and her owl, the Athenian tetradrachm was among the most widely traded and most recognizable coins of the ancient world. The olive leaves on Athena’s helmet and the small crescent moon behind the owl date…

Documented

Partial type record

Silver tetradrachm, Greek, Attica, ca. 440–404 BC

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

ancient coins

Silver tetradrachm, Greek, Attica, ca. 440–404 BC

ca. 440–404 BC

Tetradrachm in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession 2021.40.80), catalogued by the museum's Greek and Roman Art department under the title “Silver tetradrachm”. The museum dates it ca. 440–404 BC and records its origin as Greek, Attica. The museum records the medium as Silver and the dimensions as 15/…

Documented

Partial type record

Browse other historical issuers and makers in the Atlas, or read how attributions are made in the editorial method.