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Stater
| Issuer | Aegina |
|---|---|
| Year | 456 BC - 431 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Silver |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Deep incuse square divided into five compartments by a bold skew pattern, characteristic of the archaic and early classical Aeginetan coinage. The incuse is formed by two broad raised bars crossing at right angles, with a diagonal bar cutting across the lower-right quadrant, creating an asymmetric arrangement of recessed rectangular and triangular sections. The surfaces of the individual compartments are flat and slightly granular. No legend or inscription is present. This mill-sail or skewed incuse design is a hallmark of Aeginetan staters of this period. |
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| Mintage | ND (456 BC - 431 BC) |
| Additional information |
Aegina was the first Greek polis to strike coinage on a wide scale, pioneering the "Aeginetan standard" — a weight system adopted across much of the Peloponnese and central Greece for over a century. By the time this stater was struck, the island's commercial power was already in terminal decline. Athens, viewing Aeginetan naval and mercantile strength as an existential threat, had been systematically strangling the island's trade since the 450s. The final blow came in 431 BC, when Athens expelled the entire Aeginetan population at the outset of the Peloponnesian War.
These late turtles — as collectors have always called them — were struck on the island's last gasp of independent production before the dies went cold permanently.