[Home, My eBay, Site Map, Sign In/Out] [eBay logo] [Main Navigation] [Browse Sub-Navigation] See this item in eBay's new look for this page. ORC9720 Athens, official fourée owl VF Item # 3029309557 Coins:Coins: World:Ancient:Greek Bidding is closed for this item. Payment Details Payment United States Shipping and handling US $0.00 Instructions Shipping insurance per item (Included in S&H) -- Shipping is FREE within the United States, and to these countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom. ***** For bidders in ALL other countries ***** shipments will be sent at YOUR risk, and you MUST add $9.00 for Registered Mail. Please do not bid unless you agree to these terms. -------------------------------------------------- The seller ended this listing early because of an error in the listing. [ ] [Show description]Current US $350.00 Starting bid US $350.00 bid Buy It Now for [Leave feedback] US $400.00 (to seller) This option disappears once a bid is placed. Quantity 1 # of bids 0 Bid history Time left Auction has ended. Location New England Country United States Started Jun-07-03 12:26:26 PDT [envelope] Mail this auction to a friend Ends Jun-16-03 11:23:51 PDT [Image] oldromancoins.com[ ]( 1747[star]) [ ][Powerseller][ ][about me] Seller Feedback rating: 1747 with 99.7% positive feedback reviews (Read all reviews) (rating) Member since: Aug-29-98. Registered in United States View seller's other items | [Image][Image]Safe Trading Tips [Image] High -- bidder [Image] Payment PayPal, money order/cashiers check, [Image] personal check, Visa/MasterCard, [Image] Discover, or American Express. [Image] PayPal: Fast, easy, secure payment. Learn More. [Image] [Image][Image][Image][Image][Image][Image][Image][Image] Shipping Seller pays for shipping. Seller Use Anything Points at PayPal! Learn more. ships internationally (worldwide). [Image] Seller services Relist this item Description [Image] Please click the banner above to go to our eBay "AboutMe" home page. presents Classical Cash's 197th eBay Sale! [Image] [Image] If the photos above do not load, click here for Obverse and click here for Reverse ORC9720 Athens, official fourée owl VF Athens, Æ fourée core of a Tetradrachm, (15.07g) Emergency Issue, 406-404 BC, Helmeted head of Athena right. / AØE Owl standing right, head facing. S2535; Svor. plate 15, #12-18; Starr plate XXIII, #12. Toned VF, nicely centered, small notch at edge 10:00, and a small break in the plating at left of owl neck. Near the end of the Peloponesian War against Sparta, Athens issued silver plated bronze coins. This is a rare example of early "money of necessity" or "siege coinage" So this is an "official fourée." Note the missing crescent, a feature which is also missing on the important gold stater of this period recently auctioned by Leu Numismatics. The crescent does appear on some of the plated tetradrachms. The uniformity of this issue strongly suggests that they were "official." The idea that these are contemporary forgeries is not credible. Did the forgers coordinate in their workshops to create them? This debasement is mentioned with sadness by Aristophanes in his play "The Frogs." Yea for these, our sterling pieces, all of pure Athenian mould, All of perfect die and metal, all the fairest of the fair, All of workmanship unequaled, proved and valued everywhere Both amongst our own Hellenes and Barbarians far away, These we use not: but the worthless pinchbeck coins of yesterday, Vilest die and basest metal, now we always use instead. CLICK HERE TO E-MAIL US before you bid, if you have a question about this item CLICK HERE to see ALL the items in this sale CLICK HERE for our Terms of Sale and your Payment Options -------------------------------------------------- [Image] Bidding Bidding is closed for this item. This page is available on eBay for a limited time only. Please print a copy for your own records. -------------------------------------------------- Announcements | Register | Safe Trading Tips | Policies | Feedback Forum | About eBay Copyright © 1995-2003 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved. [TrustE] Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the eBay User Agreement and Privacy Policy.