On the obverse there is the head of Athena.  On the reverse, the owl (associated with Athena), a sprig of olive (sacred to Athena) upper left and alpha (A), theta (TH), epsilon¹ (E), the first three letters of Athena and Athens.  The Athenians were very proud of their coins.  Two plays by Aristophanes contain praise of  Athenian coinage:

The Laureotic²owls³ will never fail you,
but will always dwell and hatch in your
purses and will produce small change.
(Birds 1106-08)

unadulterated…the most beautiful of all coins
…alone properly struck⁴ and tested⁵ everywhere
among the Greeks and barbarians.
(Frogs 721-24)

Notes

1. The Athenians pronounced the name of the goddess and their city with a long 'e', but in writing until the end of the fifth century used the character epsilon (short 'e') for both short and long 'e', as we do. When the Athenians adopted the Ionic alphabet in 403 BC, the character 'H' was used for the long 'e' (êta).  Return to text.
2. Athenian coins were made out of silver from the mines at Laurium in southeast Attica.  Return to text.
3. The Athenians called their coins "owls" because of the owl on the reverse side.  Return to text.
4. i.e., stamped  with the head of Athena and the owl.  Return to text.
5. by striking them on a hard surface and listening to the sound they made (the characteristic "ring").  Return to text.

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