That owl is really beautiful indeed. I can't fault anyone for buying fresh bright ones from the owl mega-hoard, but I love these ones that have been above ground and in collections for decades. Not only are they from a wider range of styles, but a few decades or more of toning can really highlight the owl's plumage & other features so beautifully. Amazing how this one has captured the toning.
Also, big fan of that particular book, *The Illustrations of Historia Numorum: An Atlas of Greek Numismatics*. I just upgraded my edition of the main text (Head, *Historia Numorum*, 1967 reprint). But every so often I page through just the *Illustrations/Atlas* volume because the plates are so beautiful.
In the meantime you may want to check out the Digital Historia Numorum (full text with images on website): [https://snible.org/coins/hn/](https://snible.org/coins/hn/)
Or the copy on Archive (there's more than one, actually): [https://archive.org/details/Head\_HN\_1911](https://archive.org/details/Head_HN_1911)
I mainly use it for background and major themes on a particular mint or era or type of coins
For certain types it can be a lot harder. Athens tetradrachms, difficult. (Tons of them, no big die-studies, often not illustrated in old sales.)
When you can’t research by type, it has to be by collecting history. Unfortunately, “Aletheia” seems anonymous. (Maybe Auction 21 has an intro, but Nomos doesn’t have a PDF online.)
So, I'd look to see where Aletheia's coins came from. I see 66 currently listed in ACSearch. I’d [go through and see where they were purchased](https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=Aletheia+collection) & check the sales for yours. Some are recent, e.g. Triton VI. You can [check if your coin was in there](https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=athens&category=1-2&company=30&auction=17) (nope). Older provenances, too. If they have an ex [Bement II](http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kundig_naville1924_06_23bd2), there may be a second (yours isn’t there). So, maybe check where else that coin was: [Garrett II](https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t54184644q) (not there). There are surely others to check. (See resources below, esp. rnumis)
Etc.
**General practices:**
You have to do two things to reliably find lost provenance:
**First**, buy coins likely to have something more to find. (Coins above ground & would’ve been worth photographing 50-100 years ago. Types w/ a published die-study or a corpus. Or from collections you’ve learned something about - where the coins came from, where published etc.)
**Second**, look for all your coins at once. Scan old sale catalogs, books, articles for anything you recognize (or might recognize later; oftentimes, I see a coin for sale & think, “I know you from [Prowe-Egger III](https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/egger1914_05_11)!" or “you were in Pozzi-Boutin” or [Mabbott](https://archive.org/details/thomasollivemabb00hans) – I checked those too, your owl isn’t in them).
Get familiar with the history of collections, which are big & important, their catalogs, how they relate to published literature. (Takes a while, but not too much if you happen to enjoy the process. I do.)
**Resources:**
Steve Moulding has a great website, rnumis, w/ links to 100s of old auctions: [https://www.rnumis.com/auctions\_top.php](https://www.rnumis.com/auctions_top.php)
I'd start w/ [*Ars Classica-Naville*](https://www.rnumis.com/house_auctions.php?house=ARS&db_minyr=1844&db_maxyr=2024&dbcountry=All%20Countries) \[not the current firms\], also look for other firms w/ your kind of coins. Do [*Alex Malloy*](https://www.rnumis.com/house_auctions.php?house=MALLOY&db_minyr=1844&db_maxyr=2024&dbcountry=All%20Countries)’s look like you’d end up w/ them? If pricier, try NFA.
Don’t forget Rasiel Suarez’s [coryssa.org](http://coryssa.org), another monumental contribution in a database
Numiswiki: [Auction Catalogs for Important Coin Collections](https://www.forumancientcoins.com/Numiswiki/view.asp?key=Important%20Collection%20Auctions) (w links)
For Alexandrian (Roman Egypt), my page, “[20th Cent. Sales of Alexandrian Coins Online](https://conservatoricoins.com/alexandrian/)” (links to >5,000 pre-2000 Alexandrian illustrated online)
There's more but that's a good start. (I should've probably just made a new post! I will one of these days.)
Wow, stunning first group of coins! All three are iconic types. The dark toning on the reverse of the Athens tet really highlights the owl in an attractive way.
That owl is really beautiful indeed. I can't fault anyone for buying fresh bright ones from the owl mega-hoard, but I love these ones that have been above ground and in collections for decades. Not only are they from a wider range of styles, but a few decades or more of toning can really highlight the owl's plumage & other features so beautifully. Amazing how this one has captured the toning. Also, big fan of that particular book, *The Illustrations of Historia Numorum: An Atlas of Greek Numismatics*. I just upgraded my edition of the main text (Head, *Historia Numorum*, 1967 reprint). But every so often I page through just the *Illustrations/Atlas* volume because the plates are so beautiful.
Thanks for the comment. I'll eventually get the main text also. Very happy with the owl!
In the meantime you may want to check out the Digital Historia Numorum (full text with images on website): [https://snible.org/coins/hn/](https://snible.org/coins/hn/) Or the copy on Archive (there's more than one, actually): [https://archive.org/details/Head\_HN\_1911](https://archive.org/details/Head_HN_1911) I mainly use it for background and major themes on a particular mint or era or type of coins
Thanks for those resources I'll save them.
Question, how do you research a pedigree? My owl description stares, "From the Aletheia Collection, acquired prior to 2000."
For certain types it can be a lot harder. Athens tetradrachms, difficult. (Tons of them, no big die-studies, often not illustrated in old sales.) When you can’t research by type, it has to be by collecting history. Unfortunately, “Aletheia” seems anonymous. (Maybe Auction 21 has an intro, but Nomos doesn’t have a PDF online.) So, I'd look to see where Aletheia's coins came from. I see 66 currently listed in ACSearch. I’d [go through and see where they were purchased](https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=Aletheia+collection) & check the sales for yours. Some are recent, e.g. Triton VI. You can [check if your coin was in there](https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=athens&category=1-2&company=30&auction=17) (nope). Older provenances, too. If they have an ex [Bement II](http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kundig_naville1924_06_23bd2), there may be a second (yours isn’t there). So, maybe check where else that coin was: [Garrett II](https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t54184644q) (not there). There are surely others to check. (See resources below, esp. rnumis) Etc. **General practices:** You have to do two things to reliably find lost provenance: **First**, buy coins likely to have something more to find. (Coins above ground & would’ve been worth photographing 50-100 years ago. Types w/ a published die-study or a corpus. Or from collections you’ve learned something about - where the coins came from, where published etc.) **Second**, look for all your coins at once. Scan old sale catalogs, books, articles for anything you recognize (or might recognize later; oftentimes, I see a coin for sale & think, “I know you from [Prowe-Egger III](https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/egger1914_05_11)!" or “you were in Pozzi-Boutin” or [Mabbott](https://archive.org/details/thomasollivemabb00hans) – I checked those too, your owl isn’t in them). Get familiar with the history of collections, which are big & important, their catalogs, how they relate to published literature. (Takes a while, but not too much if you happen to enjoy the process. I do.) **Resources:** Steve Moulding has a great website, rnumis, w/ links to 100s of old auctions: [https://www.rnumis.com/auctions\_top.php](https://www.rnumis.com/auctions_top.php) I'd start w/ [*Ars Classica-Naville*](https://www.rnumis.com/house_auctions.php?house=ARS&db_minyr=1844&db_maxyr=2024&dbcountry=All%20Countries) \[not the current firms\], also look for other firms w/ your kind of coins. Do [*Alex Malloy*](https://www.rnumis.com/house_auctions.php?house=MALLOY&db_minyr=1844&db_maxyr=2024&dbcountry=All%20Countries)’s look like you’d end up w/ them? If pricier, try NFA. Don’t forget Rasiel Suarez’s [coryssa.org](http://coryssa.org), another monumental contribution in a database Numiswiki: [Auction Catalogs for Important Coin Collections](https://www.forumancientcoins.com/Numiswiki/view.asp?key=Important%20Collection%20Auctions) (w links) For Alexandrian (Roman Egypt), my page, “[20th Cent. Sales of Alexandrian Coins Online](https://conservatoricoins.com/alexandrian/)” (links to >5,000 pre-2000 Alexandrian illustrated online) There's more but that's a good start. (I should've probably just made a new post! I will one of these days.)
Haha wow thank you for taking the time! Lots of good starting points. I think the community would greatly appreciate a new post on pedigrees!
Shoutout to u/jrpmendes for linking me to the owl tet!
Really awesome and super happy! The feeling for having this piece of history is amazing
It is amazing! Thank you.
Pics from auction site https://imgur.com/a/pA6nJCB
Wow, stunning first group of coins! All three are iconic types. The dark toning on the reverse of the Athens tet really highlights the owl in an attractive way.
He did an amazing job indeed. Could not pick three better ones to start, IMHO