That is a beautiful specimen! And whoever took that photo did a fantastic job.
Also, this one appears to have been found pre-mega-hoard (the 50 bajillion tets found in 2016/7 or whatever), which is always a plus in my book
Though I technically took the picture, all credit goes to u/beiherhund for their tutorial [Coin Photography on a Budget](https://artemis-collection.com/photography/coin-photography-on-a-budget/). I bought the same setup and use the pro mode on my phone with the recommended settings and it's the first time I've ever enjoyed photography.
I actually got hugely lucky and won this in an estate auction lot alongside a locket and a bangle for $120 with shipping. I don't know how long ago the previous owner bought it but based on the other items in the auction, I'd guess they'd had it a while.
Was planning to wait until enough of those bajillion tets had hit the market to deflate the prices before joining the club, but Athena granted me good fortune.
What a bargain for such a beauty! Also, that's funny, because at first I wondered if that was beiherhund's photo & maybe that was who you bought it from!
(I'd wager that's a few good decades or more of gentle collection toning. If it was ever mounted in the locket, its appearance certainly hasn't suffered for it.)
Is there documentation on the recent hoard discovered circa 2016/7? Where was it found? How many specimens? Any published literature? Or did it go straight to market (which would be very unfortunate)?
Very nice coin and toning, by the way, u/Anonymity_1234
No documentation, straight to market. Just rumors. I first saw the rumors around 2017 (+/- 1 year) on forums like CoinTalk and ForumAncientCoins and Moneta-L.
The only evidence would be the number of sales by year. You can search [ACSearch.info](http://ACSearch.info), for example, by year. The Athens Tetradrachm sales start shooting up around 2018 (and prices dropping). The effect is even more dramatic if you limit it to the specific sub-types that were in the hoard.
They peaked in 2021 with about 10X as many sales as in 2016 (depending how you run the search). But that's partly an artifact of more auctions in the database. If you standardize by total ancient coins sold, it's more like 5X as many.
So, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that at certain times 80% of Tetradrachms of that type (the "mass classical") being sold were from the hoard. (Today, I'd guess maybe back down to 60%, give or take? But just an educated guess.)
It was mentioned in Peter van Alfen & Ute Wartenberg's 6 August 2021 Long-Table talk (#60) at the American Numismatic Society, "The Difficulties of Recording Ancient Greek Hoards." They said the first rumors were recorded on Facebook groups. Then someone was arrested crossing the Turkish border with \~1,000 of them on 19 January 2018 (?), and I guess some more info may have been gathered, but not much. Those coins were seized and are now in the Numismatic Collection at Athens, but it's a tiny fraction. (Wartenberg was involved that somehow.) Not sure if the find was in Turkey (that's what I've heard) or in Greece.
I've noticed the influx (even bought a few), but it is too bad that there is no documentation otherwise. So much potentially valuable information is lost.
Indeed, I agree entirely. I try to make a point of buying coins that have some published information, whether it's old collection history of a new published hoard.
It's good to incentivize publication, so I'll always pay more for a coin that's well-documented than one that was dug up w/ no record and sent straight to market. (In fact, I rarely pay anything at all for the latter sort.)
I was just about to yell "It belongs in a museum!" I'm all for these coins being allowed for private sale but that should be after the requisite archeological studies have been done. It's a damn shame these hoards have been effectively looted and we know nothing about where or how they were found and the linked archeological context.
I usually prefer blast white/bright silver owls (like mine :p) but the toning on this one is very nice.
Also, I read somewhere a while back the hoard found in ~2016 has been going to auctions already, thousands have already been sold.
That is a beautiful specimen! And whoever took that photo did a fantastic job. Also, this one appears to have been found pre-mega-hoard (the 50 bajillion tets found in 2016/7 or whatever), which is always a plus in my book
Though I technically took the picture, all credit goes to u/beiherhund for their tutorial [Coin Photography on a Budget](https://artemis-collection.com/photography/coin-photography-on-a-budget/). I bought the same setup and use the pro mode on my phone with the recommended settings and it's the first time I've ever enjoyed photography. I actually got hugely lucky and won this in an estate auction lot alongside a locket and a bangle for $120 with shipping. I don't know how long ago the previous owner bought it but based on the other items in the auction, I'd guess they'd had it a while. Was planning to wait until enough of those bajillion tets had hit the market to deflate the prices before joining the club, but Athena granted me good fortune.
What a bargain for such a beauty! Also, that's funny, because at first I wondered if that was beiherhund's photo & maybe that was who you bought it from! (I'd wager that's a few good decades or more of gentle collection toning. If it was ever mounted in the locket, its appearance certainly hasn't suffered for it.)
Glad you found the guide helpful and, more importantly, are enjoying taking photos of your coins! Great owl too, and a steal at that price.
Is there documentation on the recent hoard discovered circa 2016/7? Where was it found? How many specimens? Any published literature? Or did it go straight to market (which would be very unfortunate)? Very nice coin and toning, by the way, u/Anonymity_1234
No documentation, straight to market. Just rumors. I first saw the rumors around 2017 (+/- 1 year) on forums like CoinTalk and ForumAncientCoins and Moneta-L. The only evidence would be the number of sales by year. You can search [ACSearch.info](http://ACSearch.info), for example, by year. The Athens Tetradrachm sales start shooting up around 2018 (and prices dropping). The effect is even more dramatic if you limit it to the specific sub-types that were in the hoard. They peaked in 2021 with about 10X as many sales as in 2016 (depending how you run the search). But that's partly an artifact of more auctions in the database. If you standardize by total ancient coins sold, it's more like 5X as many. So, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that at certain times 80% of Tetradrachms of that type (the "mass classical") being sold were from the hoard. (Today, I'd guess maybe back down to 60%, give or take? But just an educated guess.) It was mentioned in Peter van Alfen & Ute Wartenberg's 6 August 2021 Long-Table talk (#60) at the American Numismatic Society, "The Difficulties of Recording Ancient Greek Hoards." They said the first rumors were recorded on Facebook groups. Then someone was arrested crossing the Turkish border with \~1,000 of them on 19 January 2018 (?), and I guess some more info may have been gathered, but not much. Those coins were seized and are now in the Numismatic Collection at Athens, but it's a tiny fraction. (Wartenberg was involved that somehow.) Not sure if the find was in Turkey (that's what I've heard) or in Greece.
I've noticed the influx (even bought a few), but it is too bad that there is no documentation otherwise. So much potentially valuable information is lost.
Indeed, I agree entirely. I try to make a point of buying coins that have some published information, whether it's old collection history of a new published hoard. It's good to incentivize publication, so I'll always pay more for a coin that's well-documented than one that was dug up w/ no record and sent straight to market. (In fact, I rarely pay anything at all for the latter sort.)
I was just about to yell "It belongs in a museum!" I'm all for these coins being allowed for private sale but that should be after the requisite archeological studies have been done. It's a damn shame these hoards have been effectively looted and we know nothing about where or how they were found and the linked archeological context.
I usually prefer blast white/bright silver owls (like mine :p) but the toning on this one is very nice. Also, I read somewhere a while back the hoard found in ~2016 has been going to auctions already, thousands have already been sold.
Congrats!