Announcer: This is a Getty podcast.
Host: If somebody asked you where an owl lived, you’d
probably say in a tree, right?
Well today’s guest might be an owl, but he lives
someplace unusual—on an ancient coin to be precise.
Welcome to If Objects Could Talk, a podcast where art
and artifacts get to leave the museum vault and tell
their side of the story.
Thanks for joining us as we bring objects into the light!
Quick question: do you have any coins at home?
Maybe in a piggy bank or a few nickels and dimes
under your couch cushions?
If the answer is “no” don’t worry about it.
A lot of us only have money in the bank and use cards
or phones to pay for things.
But in ancient times, coins were the hot, new way to pay.
The coin we’ll hear from today was made between 505–490 BCE.
It was made in Athens, Greece but found far away, in Egypt.
I’ll let our owl tell you the rest.
Owl Coin: [marching] ATTENTION!
What an exciting opportunity to educate young minds on
what it means to be, well, me.
At ease, private.
Not only am I wise, and humble, I am also very brave.
And why wouldn’t I be?
I’m important!
I’m currency!
Money!
The big cheese!
I helped people get the things they wanted!
The things they needed!
But before we get to the why we must know more about the
who, who-who [clears throat].
About the who.
First things first: I am adorable!
It’s true!
I have two large eyes that take up most of my face
and the cutest little beak.
Although I am made of metal, you can see my
tiny feathers covering my body and crowning my head.
One of my majestic wings is on view as well as my three tail
feathers and two sturdy legs.
Above my body is an olive sprig.
Coins like me were among the most recognizable coins
in ancient times, used all over the Mediterranean and
produced in great numbers!
This means that I have a lot of brothers and sisters—and
it was basically a family reunion when I went from
one coin purse to another!
I’m from Athens, one of over one thousand Greek
city-states, although none were as large as Athens.
While I live on one side of the coin, my other side
features the head of Athena.
She’s the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare, and also
the patron goddess of Athens.
We don’t really see eye to eye, Athena and me.
Oh, we get along; I’d ride into battle with
the great Athena any day!
It’s just literally impossible to see eye to
eye when she’s heads and I’m tail...feathers [laughs].
When you think about it, coins really haven’t changed
all that much over time.
I bet you can find a coin right now with an animal
on one side and the face of someone important on the other.
Go!
Find it!
I’ll wait.
Yes, you can use the internet.
What coin did you find?
What country is it from?
What’s it made out of?
Well, I’m made out of silver which makes sense seeing as
there were silver mines in the mountains outside of Athens.
I’m also heavier than the coins of today.
You want to know how I was made?
Well, it went a little something like this…
First, you have to heat the silver.
It must be so hot that it turns into a bright liquid.
That molten metal is then poured into circular molds.
Once the molds cool, it is time to give the coins specific
images that project out from the flat surface of the coin.
To make the coin a true Athenian Owl like me, a blank
disc was sandwiched between a pair of cylinders with the
engraved designs on either side.
This was then struck with a hammer!
Talk about a splitting headache!
The force of the hammer impressed the designs into
the coin on both sides: the majestic Athena on one side and
me, her loyal owl on the other.
It was a noisy process—but not as noisy as the agora!
The agora was the center of city-state life.
It was loud and crowded.
People would work, trade or buy goods, meet friends,
and conduct business deals.
In truth, I am a bit of an agoraphobe; that’s someone who
is afraid of public spaces.
It comes from the Greek words “agora” which
means meeting place and “phobia” which means fear.
It was at the agora where a vendor cut into me to make
sure I was really made out of silver—he could’ve just asked!
You can still see a “test cut” that goes from the edge
of the coin almost all the way to my gorgeous wing!
From that day forward, I have been a bit nervous to
go into any market place.
But I had to be there because people needed me
to buy what they wanted.
In the Athenian agora, you could find goods from
around the Mediterranean.
There were dates from Phoenicia, the softest linen
from Egypt, the brightest ivory from North Africa, and
fragrant spices from Syria.
Merchants of similar goods had shops together in
specific areas in the agora.
Prices were rarely set in stone, so bargaining with the
merchants was a common practice.
I do remember one particular screaming match over the size
of fish like it was yesterday.
Like today’s paper money and coins, I’ve been
passed around from vendor to buyer and back again.
I have been in many hands, strongboxes, and ships.
But on this day, I was in the small, leather pouch
of a tough Spartan teenager by the name of Daphne.
Daphne had traveled to Athens with her father,
a wealthy diplomat.
When Daphne arrived at the agora in Athens she was
shocked by the social norms.
In Athens, women had to shop with a male relative
or with an enslaved escort.
Only very poor women would shop in the markets
alone or sell goods.
This was not like Sparta at all, where women could shop on
their own whenever they wanted.
Sparta and Athens were independent Greek city-states,
each with their own government and culture.
So while they shared a common language and
religion, there were also many little differences.
As Daphne discovered, alone in the agora!
Daphne felt eyes staring at her throughout the marketplace.
They could tell by her dress that she was a well-off and
respectable young woman.
They knew she shouldn’t be alone!
Many vendors even refused her service unless she came
back with a male relative.
As I jiggled and jostled inside her loosely tied purse, I had
a feeling the next person to refuse Daphne was going to
meet real, true Spartan rage.
And who could really blame Daphne!
It wasn’t fair that she couldn’t shop alone
but her brother could.
Can you think of a time where something unfair
happened to you or a friend?
Maybe someone cut you in line, or copied from your homework?
How did that make you feel?
Probably as upset as Daphne!
Daphne was determined to buy something.
Anything.
She approached a fishmonger and asked if he had any squid.
Without a word he retrieved the tiniest squid in his
possession and attempted to wrap it up for a potential sale.
Daphne couldn’t believe how disrespectful this was!
She could afford the best!
What was the meaning of this insulting gesture?
Daphne screamed at the man and told him his catch was puny!
Without thinking, Daphne threw the squid in the fishmonger’s
face and vowed never to return to Athens or its agora with
its too many rules ever again.
The fishmonger was hot with rage and began moving
from behind his fish stall.
Daphne knew that it was time to RUN.
In the heat of the moment, I fell from Daphne’s purse
and onto the dirt path.
You see, Sparta forbid the use of valuable gold and silver
coins, so Daphne was not used to handling them or making sure she
didn’t lose them in the hustle and bustle of a quick getaway!
The fishmonger, hot on Daphne’s trail, stopped when he saw my
silver surface catch the light.
When he realized what was in his hands, an Athenian
Owl, representing four days of pay for a Greek
soldier, he immediately began to thank Athena for
her generosity and wisdom.
From then on the fishmonger kept me close.
A testament to the favor Athena showed him and
a reminder that seeking revenge is never worth it!
He would have never found me if he’d kept running after Daphne.
And Daphne wouldn’t have lost me if she hadn’t
tried to get her revenge by throwing that slimy squid.
And I was just relieved.
I didn’t have to go from vendor, to buyer, to
purse for quite some time!
I was special.
A gift from a goddess.
Sometimes you just need a break from the rat race, you know?
Host: I hope you enjoyed learning about the agora
and Greek city-states.
Join us next time when a pair of feet illuminates our studio.
To see photographs of the owl coin and learn more,
visit our website at Getty dot edu slash podcasts.
This episode was written by Tocarra Elise and
produced by Zoe Goldman.
Dave Luukonnen voiced the owl.
Theme music, mixing and sound design by Alexandra Kalinowski.
Christopher Sprinkle is executive producer.
Special thanks to curators Ken Lapatin and Judith Barr
and educator Lilit Sadoyan.
Catch you next time!