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Drachm
| Issuer | Aegina |
|---|---|
| Year | 350 BC - 338 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Drachm |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Land tortoise viewed from above, depicted in high relief with a finely segmented, domed shell rendered in a naturalistic style characteristic of the later Aeginetan series. The carapace displays clearly articulated scutes arranged in rows, with the marginal plates forming a distinctive border. The letter Alpha (A) appears to the left of the tortoise and Iota (I) to the right in the field, serving as magistrate or control marks. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Quadripartite incuse square divided into four triangular sections by diagonal grooves meeting at the center, a hallmark of archaic and classical Aeginetan coinage. The upper-left compartment bears the Greek letter Nu (N), the upper-right compartment the letter Iota (I), and the lower-left compartment contains a small dolphin, all serving as control symbols. The incuse pattern retains the deeply punched, skyphos-shaped form associated with the Aeginetan mint's later issues. |
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| Additional information |
Aegina's coinage holds a particular claim in Greek monetary history — the Aeginetan standard was the dominant weight system across much of the Peloponnese and central Greece before the Attic standard gradually displaced it. By the mid-fourth century, when these drachms were being struck, Aegina had already been forcibly depopulated by Athens in 431 BC and resettled with Athenian cleruchs; the island's coinage resumed only after Sparta restored the original inhabitants following Athens' defeat in 404 BC.
The issues catalogued under HGC 6#445 belong to the late phase of Aeginetan silver production, ending abruptly with Macedonian hegemony after Chaeronea in 338 BC.