Attica, Tetradrachm, ca. 454-404 BC
Athens - Silver - NGC - AU 5/5-3/5
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Head of Athena to the right, wearing a crested Attic helmet, decorated with three olive leaves over the visor and a spiral palmette on the bowl, and wearing a necklace and earrings.
Owl standing right, head facing; behind, crescent and olive sprig with berry; before, legend AΘE; all within incuse square.
Graded NGC AU Strike: 5/5 Surface: 3/5, full crest. Extremely rare specimen with a very round flan, extremely wide, with a full crest, a rarity! In excellent condition, with engravings still very pleasant for the eye. These tetradrachms, struck in abundance during the Classical period, when Athens was the most important city in the Greek world, were often not very carefully made. Money-changers and cities everywhere had such confidence in the purity of the silver used, because these types were so well known, that Athens placed a quite low priority on the striking of the coins, particularly when it came to forging the coin flans. They were melted into a fairly round shape, but the main concern in the striking process was the weight of the flan (17.4g according to the Attic standard) and the impression of the portrait of Athena with the owl and the ethnic inscription ‘AΘE’ on the reverse, which gave the coin the confidence it needed to be traded. The great majority of tetradrachms flans were then very thick, not very circular, but with a weight that was always respected. As a result, it is extremely rare nowadays to find specimens with a complete portrait of Athena, with the crest completely visible, from the bottom of the helmet to the top of the head, as it was usually out of flan when these poorly produced silver flans were struck.
AΘE
17.22 gr
Silver
Silver can fall into your pocket but also falls between copper and gold in group 11 of the periodic table. Three metals frequently used to mint coins. There are two good reasons for using silver: it is a precious metal and oxidizes little upon contact with air. Two advantages not to be taken for granted.
Here is thus a metal that won’t vanish into thin air.
It’s chemical symbol Ag is derived from the Latin word for silver (argentum), compare Ancient Greek ἄργυρος (árgyros). Silver has a white, shiny appearance and, to add a little bit of esotericism or polytheism to the mix, is traditionally dedicated to the Moon or the goddess Artemis (Diana to the Romans).
As a precious metal, just like gold, silver is used to mint coins with an intrinsic value, meaning their value is constituted by the material of which they are made. It should be noted that small quantities of other metals are frequently added to silver to make it harder, as it is naturally very malleable (you can’t have everything) and thus wears away rapidly.
The first silver coins probably date back to the end of the 7th century BC and were struck on the Greek island of Aegina. These little beauties can be recognized by the turtle featured on the reverse.
The patina of silver ranges from gray to black.
The millesimal fineness (or alloy) of a coin indicates the exact proportion (in parts per thousand) of silver included in the composition. We thus speak, for example, of 999‰ silver or 999 parts of silver per 1 part of other metals. This measure is important for investment coins such as bullion. In France, it was expressed in carats until 1995.
