Among the most important Archaic coins of the Greek mainland, both historically and artistically, were those of Athens. The first coins, the so-called heraldic or "Wappenmuenzen", must have been minted during the time of Pisistratus (560-527 BC), while the first series of the famous owls belong to the time of his son Hippias.

The heraldic coins -called that way, because most scholars believe that they are related to the emblems of important families- are rare, because their series were of a limited issue. Very few times they were found outside Attica, probably because they were used mostly in local marketplaces. They are mostly didrachms and applied the Euboic standard, that is they weighed 8,5 grams approximately. They had as emblems various, though indiscernible types, such as the amphora, the glaux (i.e. owl), the horsehead, the wheel, the astragalos, the bucranium (bull's head). Yet, later, they were replaced by distinguishable national figures -such as Athena and her sacred symbol, the owl- and validated with the inscription ΑΘΕ (Athe), meaning "of Athenians", aiming at the spread of the Athenian coinage to foreign markets.

Athens displayed strong conservatism as to the emblem on its silver coins. It maintained the same emblem both on the high and low denominations. This emblem was the head of its patron goddess, Athena and the owl which is associated with the goddess of wisdom. The Athenian silver coin was renowned for its purity and its precise weight. Its metal's origin was the rich silver mines in Laurium, in the southern part of Attica (Herodotus, Historia 7.144). Athens' mint was situated in the south-eastern end of the Ancient Agora. The owl, which was accepted everywhere and is often seen on other coins too, has been located in Egypt, in Cyrene, in South Italy and in Sicily.