A Parliament of Owls

[maridvnvm]

I don't have much of interest in terms of owls.... especially in the company of some of those illustrated above. An uncut owl is on my wish list but is beyond my current means...

My Athenian owl has suffered a test cut through the head.



My Egyptian imitative has managed to avoid that fate.



Martin

[rover1.3]

 Why does this owl, on this borrowed picture below, carry the tools of Osiris, the  flail and and scepter ( or  reaping hook?). Is it symbolic of a guardian of the grain by controlling mice?

hannibal2
Read here.You will probably get an answer.

 http://books.google.gr/books?id=WoSX0tvxA08C&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=tyre+phoenician+owl&source=bl&ots=DHyrvjnRwW&sig=CqwsS7Lah2hH6aqZOMDefLNLLHY&hl=el&ei=TqqMTJOfOISPOLPruboK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CCwQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=tyre%20phoenician%20owl&f=false

Lloyd
Those imitations are great examples and very desirable types..Congratulations,and thank you for sharing.Please show us the obverses,too.(if possible..)

Martin
nice couple!Your Egyptian owl is a perfect coin for comparison i think.

[Robert_Brenchley]

There are plenty of horned owl species. I remember Short-Horned Owls breeding on the moors above where I lived in Cornwall. It would be a question of trying to decide which owls were drawn from life - I have no problem believing that in the case of Athens owls - and which were simply copied. I don't suppose my Gaza specimen, for instance, represents any actual owl.

[Jaimelai]

Here's one of my few owls:


Athens, Attica 
350 - 262 B.C.
Bronze AE13
2.70 gm, 13 mm
Obv.: Head of Athena right wearing crested Corinthian helmet
Rev.: Owl standing right, head facing, wings closed, A to left, Θ to right, all within corn wreath
Sear 2565; BMC 11, p.22, 22

[Jaimelai]

And here is my other one:

Velia, Lucania 
350 – 300 B.C.
Bronze Æ 14
1.91 gm, 14 mm
Obv.: Head of young Herakles right,
wearing lion's skin
Rev.: Owl standing right on olive branch,
head facing, olive leaves right, ΥEΛH to left
BMC 1 p.317, 124; Sear 647 

[Lloyd Taylor]

Lloyd
Those imitations are great examples and very desirable types..Congratulations,and thank you for sharing.Please show us the obverses,too.(if possible..)

Thanks and I am more than happy to oblige with the obverses (below).  I was very fortunate to acquire the long lusted after Egyptian owl, even with the punch marks and wear, it is a hard type to come by.  As for the Bactrian owl...even more difficult to find in any condition.  The Egyptian owl throws up a few issues, which I am still working on after several years - https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=22245.0  By the way, if you have one in the name of Mazakes and are looking to offload it, then then give me a call.

Also I  attached my Athenian owl, my pride and joy, which started my geographic owl obsession. Not to say I didn't fall in love with Athena's Mona Lisa like smile (at least that is what I think the Mona Lisa smile would look like in profile).

Just don't get me started on eagles, yet another obsession, which is far from complete.

[Dino]

Here's my ragged little owl collection.  Includes a deka reproduction, a tet w/ test cuts, a nice little drachm, hemis, and an Eastern obol. 

[rover1.3]

We need some volunteers to clean the chicken pen.  I offer myself.

Come on guys! I know it's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it! 

[hannibal2]

Thank you Rover1.3, that was super; turbocharged too.

cr

[rover1.3]

Another half of them thrown to the chicken pen.

[Jochen]

Hi cicerokid!

The 'skiff' actually is the upper end of a columna rostrata with swane neck shaped prora on both sides and the statue of Minerva upon it. The column is decorated with a relief showing a group of figures with different explanations:
(1) evtl. Pax std. r. with scepter, before her seated captive. (Curtis Clay)
(2) Jupiter std. r., before him kneeling worshipping person (Alex from FAC)
(3) Domitian std. r., before him captive kneeling (Barry Murphy)

This is type #2 of the 4 Minerva types on denars of Domitian.

Best regards 

[cicerokid]

Hi Jochen,

Thank you for the information, most informative.

Regards

Cicerokid

[helvetica]

Here is an unusual-ish one from my owl collection.

AE19 of Bruttium, Vibo Valentia AE Triens. Ca 192-89 BC. 4.66g, 19mm.
Head of Athena right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet, earring and necklace, four dots behind.
VALENTIA, owl standing right, head facing, four dots to right.
Ref. BMC 20; SNG Cop 1850; Sear 662.
Grabbed from Roma Numismatics within minutes of it being put in his online shop 

[helvetica]

And here is a truly unusual object.
Obv: classical Athena's owl
Rev: dodo standing right, two stylized letters, an S and an M.
70 mm (2.75"  ) in diameter, quite thick and heavy.

Another, identical one was sold on ebay in November 2009, obviously from the same cast. It was bought by Reid Goldsborough. Reid did some research into these objects and has discovered that they were part of a promotion by Proctor & Gamble Co. for Crest toothpaste given to dentists in the late 1960s.

[dougsmit]

A couple of owls that joined their coin at a later date:

The Persian sigloi are known for having countermarks but few are as cute as this owl.  I always liked the owl on the Pergamon snake because it was placed to look like it was swallowed and we are seeing the xray.

[Enodia]

wow Doug, you sure do find them!

here's one from my collection that
i had forgotten about, from Hyria in Campania;

AR Didrachm (21mm, 7.31g)
400-335 BC
Head of Athena right, wearing wreathed Attic helmet decorated with an owl.
Man-headed bull walking right; 'YPIN[A]' above.

[Steve E]

Hello all,

I took Rover1.3's advice, at the top of this thread, and liberated one of Joe's owls. Much thanks to Joe and the rest of the Forvm staff for making these fine treasures available to us! And also for the layaway plan

I'm quite taken with this intermediate style! Not so much for the design of the owl (though it does seem to be a little less"Startled" than some others), but more for the rendering of Athena. Her expression is quite pleasing, even "Haunting"! I think the banker's mark adds to the overall appeal ( it sort of reminds me of face painting). And of course it adds to the historical interest.

Speaking of historical interest, Doug, that Silver Siglos of yours is quite impressive!!! (if only that little owl could talk)   Do you know the origin of any of those marks?

Coin description:
Athens, Greece, Eye-in-Profile Style Pi Type Tetradrachm, c. 347 - 294 B.C.
 
43389. Silver tetradrachm, SNG München 94, SNG Delepierre 1477, SNG Cop 64 var, gVF, banker's mark, 16.358g, 22.8mm, 225o, obverse head of Athena right with eye seen in true profile, wearing crested helmet ornamented with three olive leaves and floral scroll; reverse owl standing right, head facing, to right AQE in large lettering, to left olive sprig and crescent; nicely centered on a very tight round flan.



 

[rover1.3]

Hello all,

I took Rover1.3's advice, at the top of this thread, and liberated one of Joe's owls.
 

In case you ever regret it, i will buy this back  . It is stunning.

[Lloyd Taylor]

Now for something different.. a selection of Lucanian and Calabrian owls...sadly none are in my collection.

[Lloyd Taylor]

Now I want one of these... with exactly this angry and threatening owl...it says don't mess with the owl!

[Enodia]

i started this thread in the Members forum so we could see the coins from our own collections.
however i realised right away that this would eventually expand further to include all owl coins.
 i'm only sorry that Lloyd beat me to the MGs!

here is another from Velia, this time a bronze with wings spread (not in my collection,
but currently listed online)...

[Enodia]

the Domitian denarius shown above doesn't actually have an owl, but this beautiful and interesting republican denarius does, albeit a rather abstract one. again, i don't own this coin, it is currently listed in
an auction, but it is quite different than anything else posted so far, and a new type for me.

L. Valerius Asisculus, circa 34 BC...

[quisquam]

The owl on Jochen's Domitian is right at feet of Minerva.

The owl with head of Minerva, shield and spears (why two of them?) on the republican denarius is fascinating. At first sight it looked more like an eagle to me, but an owl definately makes more sense in combination with Minerva.

Stefan

[Enodia]

it looks more like a Dr. Suess character to me.

warriors would usually go into battle with two spears, and it is a common theme on coins (see the Tarantine didrachms for an example).

[moonmoth]

An owl as a control mark on a Republican denarius of M. Volteius M.f.

Bill