ATTICA. Athens. Circa 515-510 BC. Drachm (Silver, 15 mm, 4.31 g), 'Wappenmünzen' type. Wheel with four spokes. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square divided diagonally. Asyut 259. BMFA 1036. HGC 4, 1622. Jameson 1179. Nanteuil 910 (this coin). Seltman pl. IV, δ. Very rare and undoubtedly among the finest known. An exceptional piece struck on excellent metal and with a beautiful old collection tone. Very light scratches on the reverse, otherwise, extremely fine.



While Athenian coinage is best known for the ubiquitous owl tetradrachms struck en masse in the 5th century BC, the earliest phase of its minting was of a rather different character. Athens’ first coinage emerged at a time when the city was not yet a democracy, but still under the rule of the Peisistratid tyranny (546–510 BC). The diverse designs found on the obverse of these archaic issues - a four-spoked wheel, a scarab, a gorgoneion, and many others - are often thought to have been emblems of prominent aristocratic families involved in their production, hence the German term Wappenmünzen, or 'coins bearing heraldic symbols,' though this interpretation rests on little firm evidence.

Whatever may have inspired these types, the fall of the Peisistratids brought the Wappenmünzen swiftly to an end. Athens’ young democracy soon adopted the more familiar iconography of a helmeted Athena on the obverse and an owl on the reverse - a type that would dominate Athenian numismatic imagery for centuries thereafter, bringing its early experimentation with varied designs to a close.