One of the most famous types of Ancient coins is this silver Tetradrachm (4 drachma) coin of the city of Athens.
With the Athenian Owl on the reverse, with the Greek letters A th E, signifying Athens. On the obverse is the head of Athena, Greek goddess and patron of Athens.
Interestingly, the coin has what is called a "test cut" on the owl. Test cuts were made by ancient businessmen to check the quality of the coin (making sure it was not a counterfeit) before they received it as payment.
The condition of the Coin is EF, or Extra-Fine. The coin is listed on Harlan J. Berk's bid or buy sale and some lucky buyer got this nice example of a historic type for $325. Not a bad price for a coin that is from 430 BC, or 2433 years old.
If you want to give someone a truly unique Christmas, Channukah or other seasonally appropriate present this year, I'd suggest looking at the sites of the coin dealers listed here on my blog.
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