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An interesting video on Athenian coinage on YouTube


robinjojo

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I just came across this video tonight. 

The video was apparently published on August 18th on YouTube.  It's interesting and quite comprehensive in terms describing the history of ancient Athens and of the coinage.  

This is Episode One.

 

Edited by robinjojo
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I'll try.  I really just stumbled across this video last night, while I was watching the latest Aaron Berk podcast.  I don't know how soon episode two will appear on YouTube, but I'll check from time to time.

It is interesting that the intermediate owls are not a separate category in this video.  The categories jump from archaic to classical to new style, but I am sure that the owls of the 4th and 3rd centuries will be discussed. 

Also, I found that part of the video, where is coin is being moved on a chart, a bit distracting from what was being said, with the coin moving around in circles before settling on the new spot.  Also, the use of the red pen lines were a bit excessive.  One line would suffice, I think.  Otherwise the video is nicely done and quite thorough so far.

Edited by robinjojo
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On 8/22/2022 at 3:47 AM, robinjojo said:

I just came across this video tonight. 

The video was apparently published on August 18th on YouTube.  It's interesting and quite comprehensive in terms describing the history of ancient Athens and of the coinage.  

This is Episode One.

 

robinjojo, Thanks for posting this video ☺️. For collectors like me who know very little about Greek coins this video is worth watching. Hearing that all the coins pictured in the video were from Roma Numismatics caught my ear 👂. Several years ago I won the Classic Period tetradrachm pictured below from a Roma auction. These simple coins have a refinement that's difficult to put into words.

171765230_Athens454-404BCARTet.25mm17.22gm3h(2).jpg.1e61e69b3d150346e8f21997af0fd42f.jpg

Athens, 454-404 BC. AR Tetradrachm: 17.22 gm, 25 mm, 3 h.

Edited by Al Kowsky
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That's a beautiful owl, Al!

I found the opening part of the video, with a seemingly endless ocean of classical owls quite illustrative of the market, even though it is apparent that the owl images are duplicates.  As a visual metaphor of the owls flowing through auctions and dealer sales, it is a very apt one.  Were this the situation with a vast hoard of third century AD Roman bronzes, I would dare say the prices for those coin would hit nearly rock bottom, but since these coins are associated with Athens, that alone maintains demand.  That and the demand for "perfect" examples, especially with the crest, something bordering an obsession I think, and distracts from other aspects such as style and historical context of each coin.  Well, all things come to an end.  There's a finite number of classical owls, as vast as that number is or will be (who knows of another monster hoard hitting the market?).  The numismatic market will absorb these coins, but it might take almost a generation for the numbers to level off.  Even so, demand should remain basically strong, perhaps not at the stratospheric price levels for some owls today, but basically strong nonetheless.

It will be interesting to see how the sticky matter of dating these classical owls is handled.  Unlike the new style owls, which have a much firmer basis for dating, I find the dating of classical owls largely inferential, based on stylistic features, but lacking any contemporary supporting documentation perhaps that's the best that can be done with these coins.

 

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3 hours ago, Romismatist said:

@Al Kowsky, I think that was one of the owls they showed in the video LOL

Thanks for the alert, if that's the case I missed it 😮. I'll have to watch it again ☺️. My Owl didn't come from the recent hoard that's flooding the market, allegedly it came from an old German collection 🤨.

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