2017-05-11 Thu

The Greek coins are outstanding due to their metallurgy and artistic design. They are also known as one of the earliest issuers of the coin. Greece was divided into various city-states and each city-state was known as ‘Polis’.

Aegina was one of the city-states, located about 30 miles away from Athens. Since it was an island, it emerged as a powerful maritime trade center during 6th Century BCE and this how it developed a currency for trade.

Because of the constant seafaring activities, Aegina coins bore a turtle on its obverse. However, there are few scholars opine that turtle is the attribution of Aphrodite, whose temple stood on the island so they might have adopted them on their coins!

In the given picture the silver coin of Aegina bears the turtle on the obverse and incuse square on its reverse.

To view other Greek coins on our website click here. Keep exploring and stay tuned for the upcoming coins!