Even the coins we think we know best are full of surprises and reward a closer look. In this post we will look at one of the most familiar series of coins the world has ever known, the silver 'owls' struck by Athens c. 440-404, from the height of its hegemony over much of the Greek world to its terrible defeat in the Peloponnesian War at the hands of Sparta and its allies.
Looking at familiar objects with new perspectives advances our knowledge and understanding in provocative ways. Here, in this inaugural blog for Numismatics Beyond the Collection, we begin exploring the field of numismatics by thinking about the value of examining the coins and scholarship that too often we take for granted.
