ATTICA, Athens. Circa 165-42 BC. AR Tetradrachm (32mm, 17.10 g, 1h). New Style coinage. Struck circa 165-149/8 BC. Head of Athena Parthenos right, wearing single-pendant earring and triple crested Attic helmet decorated with Pegasos and floral pattern / Owl standing right, head facing, on amphora; A ӨE above two monograms across field, grain ear to lower left; all within wreath. Thompson 55 (same obv. die); McClean 5898; SNG Lockett 1904 var. (slightly different monogram). EF, lightly toned, small scratch below chin. Well struck on a broad flan. Fine style.
Around 165 BC, Athens introduced a new series of precious metal coinage. Colloquially called the “New Style coinage” today, it represented a revolution in the coinage of Athens. Although it remained essentially an Athena/Owl type, this new coinage broke from the traditional, more archaic-style devices employed on the previous three centuries of Athenian coinage. The obverse now depicted the Athena Parthenos of Pheidias, wearing her triple-crested Attic helmet adorned on its visor with the foreparts of four or more horses, and a flying Pegasos on the bowl. On the reverse, the owl was now shown standing on a horizontal amphora, with an elaborate array of magistrates’ names, symbols, and other letters in the surrounding fields. The entirety of the reverse was enclosed within a large olive wreath. These new depictions were largely facilitated by the coins’ broader flans, which offered a larger canvas for the celator to fill. While the output of Athen’s coinage slowed considerably in the 3rd century, the New Style Coinage was produced on a large scale, as attested by its abundance in hoards. This uptick is generally attributed to Athens’ recovery of the port of Delos in 166 BC. As with the fifth and fourth century issues, this New Style coinage became an important and respected coinage in international trade, being found today at sites throughout the Mediterranean. The series reached its apogee in the early first century BC, but went into steep decline following Sulla’s capture of Athens in the spring of 86 BC. Until then, the coins were produced in an unbroken annual sequence, but were now relegated to a few disconnected, sporadic issues that ultimately came to an end in the 40s BC.
