Silver tetradrachm

Greek, Attica

Not on view

Athens began to strike silver coinage with the head of Athena, the patron deity of the city, on the obverse and her owl on the reverse at the end of the 6th century B.C. Around the same time, the Athenians also introduced a new denomination, the tetradrachm, a comparatively large coin that could only be used only in high-value transactions. The type and denomination continued to be struck in Athens through the 5th century B.C. with only minor stylistic variations.

Silver tetradrachm, Silver, Greek, Attica

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