2016-05-05 Thu

In spite of the cultural patrimony laws which affect American collectors in buying and selling some ancient coins, the market still bubbles with energy. Thanks to Numismatic Guaranty Corp.’s NGC Ancients program which authenticates ancient coins accurately making lives of collectors easier.

Three ancient Greek silver coins were sold at Heritage auctions held at the Chicago International Coin Fair in Rosemont, Ill in April. One of them was the Aegina Turtle silver stater, circa 480 to 457 B.C. priced at $376.

These coins from Aegina were world trade coin because of a consistent design that developed over centuries. They generally have a depiction of a sea turtle on one side with a reverse punch mark.

Since they were trade coins which were widely in circulation, large quantities are available today due to hoards.

The design was first introduced in 650 B.C. and remained the same for 300 years. At the auction, the coin was graded Choice Fine by NGC with a 4/5 for strike and a 4/5 for surface.