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The story
A post on the overseas forum Lemmy’s c/europe went viral after pointing out that the owl on Greece’s €1 coin shares the same design as coins from ancient Athens. Images comparing the old and new coins side by side were posted, along with an explanation that the owl symbolizes the goddess Athena from Greek mythology and has long stood for wisdom. Some commenters noted that the depth of the engraving and other design details aren’t identical, which led to a broader discussion of how modern coins are shaped to work with vending machines and coin-sorting machines.
What people said
https://feddit.uk/pictrs/image/7ad7c8d0-443e-4390-b65b-7c114f06b5bd.webp
https://images.headstuff.org/2021/05/21174928/bubo-owl-clash-of-the-titans.jpg
https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/7058e1ee-7907-469b-a7a0-87da0e90cdcf.png
Background and Key Points
In ancient Athens, starting around the 5th century BC, silver coins (tetradrachms) stamped with the owl of the goddess Athena circulated widely as symbols of wisdom and authority. That same owl design has carried through to the present day on Greece’s €1 coin, making it a striking example of an ancient design surviving, in modified form, into modern currency. Some commenters in the thread pointed out that modern coins aren’t an exact match for the originals — differences like the shallower engraving come down to the need for coins to stack neatly and work with vending machines and coin-sorting equipment. The discussion also touched on how the logo of the BBC Micro, a British educational computer, is based on the same owl motif, showing just how far this design has traveled across eras and fields.
*This article is adapted from a thread on the overseas forum Lemmy’s c/europe — “If you have a 1€ coin from Greece today, you share the same design as someone from Ancient Athens did.” — and has been freely translated by our editorial team. Our site takes responsibility for the accuracy of the translation.
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