Tetradrachm: Head of Athena (obverse); Owl (reverse)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Tetradrachm: Head of Athena (obverse); Owl (reverse)

Date
449–440 BCE
Medium
silver
Culture
Greek, minted at Athens (Attica)
Department
Greek and Roman Art
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID
120477

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

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 this coin after the Persian Wars. The images of Athena and her owl unmistakably identify this coin as Athenian.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line
Gift of Dr. Jacob Hirsch
Provenance
?-1941: Dr. Jacob Hirsch, New York, NY, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art | 1941-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Part of a LinkedCulture topic

  • Representative object from the topic Ancient Greek Silver Tetradrachms
    Ancient Greek Silver Tetradrachms

    These objects are all tetradrachm coins, a standard ancient Greek silver denomination, depicting various deities and symbols from Greek city-states and territories across the Mediterranean.

    333 objects from 3 institutions

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