Athens New Style Tetradrachm c81/0 BC

[NewStyleKing]

Slumming through the "lower end" auctions I noticed a few NewStyles, the third described as ;

ATTICA. Athens. Tetradrachm (Circa 155/4 BC). New Style coinage. Aphrodisi[...], Apolexi[...] and Demosth[...], magistrates.
Obv: Helmeted head of Athena right.
Rev: ΑΘΕ ΑΦΡΟΔΙΣΙ ΑΠΟΛΗΞI ΔΗΜΟΣΘ.
Owl standing right on amphora, head facing; On Amphora, B; below, M (illegible letter); Controls: Nike left.
Thompson 496.

Condition : Good very fine.

Weight : 15.55 gr
Diameter : 28 mm,

well it was wrong on almost every level, the style of the Athena was a give away, so was the reading of the 3 magistrates, especially when there only 2, and that's not Nike but Demeter with a single torch! So the proper magistrates are Amphias and my old friend Oinophilos.The same fellah who was also the 2nd magistrate on the Poppy with 2 ears of corn issue. Now obviously the auction house cataloguer had something in common with Oinophilos , which means wine loving, cos I think he must have been on the booze to so wrongly describe this coin so!

Sharp eyes NewStyleKing is not to be fooled and immediately noted this to be a rare post Sullan issue. But I think somebody else noted it and I had a bit of a ding-dong to land this fish!

The next thing was to attribute it properly so I enrolled Numisforum's experts and we attributed it correctly as below,

Athens New Style Tetradrachm 81/0 BC

Obs : Athena Parthenos right in tri-form helmet
28mm 15.55 gm Thompson issue 84

Thompson catalogue: Obs 1195 Rev: NEW
Rev : ΑΘΕ ethnic
Owl standing on overturned panathenaic amphora
on which month mark Λ control ΣΩ below
2 magistrates : AMPHIAS OINOPHILOS
RF symbol : Demeter With one torch
All surrounded by an olive wreath.

 

79	86/5	2 Ears of Corn	KOINTOS - CHARMOST * Imitation Restored*						2	2
80	85/4	Beatyl with Fillets	KLEOPHANES - EPITHETES	N		NO Z				7	7
81	84/3	Harmodios & Aristogeiton	MENTOR - MOSCHION						8	8
82	83/2	Isis	ARCHITIMOS - DEMETRI						7	7
83	82/1	Poppy Head **	LUSANDROS - OINOPHILOS						6	6
84	81/0	Demeter Single Torch **	AMPHIAS - OINOPHILOS						10	10
85	80/9	Ares ? **	EUMELOS - THEOXENIDES						8	8
86	79/8	Stag **	NESTOR - MNSEAS	N					17	17
87	78/7	Bakchos **	SOTADES - THEMISTOKLES						6	6
88	??	Demeter & Artemis **	LYKIOS - ANTIKRATHES						1	1
89	??	Herekles **	PANTAKLES - DEMETRIOS						2	2

The sequence above is the post Sullan siege coinage in Thompson and Boehringer order, actual dates are not probably exact but as you can see from the number of known obverses in 1961 and now, that a fair wind gets behind the issues and after a while the obverses "fall off a cliff" I think the issues were needed for the 2nd and 3rd Mithradatic wars, but suddenly almost overnight they were not needed. The hole being filled with other acceptable coins such as the Thasos and Aesillias issues. I think the NewStyle then became a almost purely a commemorative coinage until it became extinct c 42 BC under Mark Anthony.

Edited December 15, 2024 by NewStyleKing