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10 Lepta
| Issuer | Hellenic State |
|---|---|
| Year | 1828-1830 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Phoenix (1828-1832) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central field displays a phoenix with wings spread wide, rising in three-quarter view and facing right, surmounted by a Latin cross above its head, with rays of light radiating diagonally from the upper left — emblematic of Greece's national regeneration. The bird and cross are enclosed within a raised circular border. The peripheral legend ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΙΑ (Hellenic State) runs around the outer rim, separated by small floral ornaments at the top. The date in Greek minuscule numerals αωκα΄ (1821, referencing the year of the Greek War of Independence) appears at the base of the design within the border. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | 1828 - - 450,000 1830 - - 33,880 |
| Additional information |
The 10 Lepta of 1828–1830 belongs to the first coinage of the modern Greek state, authorized by Ioannis Kapodistrias, the country's first governor, who established the mint at Aegina — the provisional capital — in 1828. Greece had no functioning monetary system of its own after nearly four centuries of Ottoman rule, and this copper issue was part of an urgent, politically charged effort to assert independent statehood through currency before the borders were even settled.
Kapodistrias was assassinated in October 1831, and the Aegina mint effectively ceased operations shortly after this series was struck. The entire Phoenix coinage was superseded within a few years by the drachma system under King Otto.