The internet is full of speculation about the value of “bitcoins”, the so-called whole world currency. These bloggers might be surprised to learn that the world had a universally recognized coin over 2,500 years ago, used everywhere around the Mediterranean by famous Greeks including Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. We now refer to this coin as the Athens Owl. Used for over 300 years, it opened the world to a new concept, conducting trade with money. Before the Owl merchants relied on barter when exchanging goods or services. With the Athens Owl coin a merchants from Egypt to Greece would take the coin in exchange for his own goods because he trusted the purity of its silver content and its uniform weight. The owl, which then as now is recognized for wisdom, was the symbol of Athens. The letters A?? on the coin are “Alpha Theta Epsilon” short for A?ENAI?N, means “of the Athenians”. This small species of owl, known as Athena Noctua, still range throughout the Mediterranean area. Standing 6-9” tall, it is often called the Minerva owl. The coin's reverse portrays Athena, goddess of wisdom and the patron of the city. In mythology Athena sometimes took the form of an owl. The silver owl coin changed the world forever and it is one of the finest surviving relics of ancient Greek culture.