2017-07-21 Fri

Akragas was an important Greek city in ancient Sicily established in 688 BCE by the Geloans in Sican territory settled by Dorians. They started minting coins in the 520s, 20 years after the Ionian cities in northern parts of Sicily. They probably followed the Corinthian weight standard that was related to the earliest staters (8.2 gram).

Akragas used the Attic standard first based on the Athenian didrachm in 510. The rest of Sicily followed the same standard later on. Akragas used the standard of Sicilian tetradrachm around 460 BCE. There was a lull between these two phases when no coins were struck.

Akragas Coins were known for their Eagle and the Crab design. The eagle was featured on the obverse while a crab on depicted on the reverse. The eagle symbolises the Olympian god Zeus who was worshipped in the city. The crab represents a river with the same name: Akragas. These coins must have been easily recognisable anywhere in Sicily, due to its striking iconography.

Akragas started minting small denomination bronze coins later on. They had a fixed exchange rate in silver coins and not on their material value. Akragas played a major role to increase trust among people that they can exchange their bronze coins for silver coins.

Even though the city started minting coins later, they were far more innovative in terms of coinage reforms. They minted highly recognisable coins and adopted a new coin tradition.