AEGINA SILVER STATER – SUPERB TORTOIS WITH SCALY FLIPPERS – CHOICE VF STAR 5/5 5/5 NGC GRADED COIN (Inv. 20074)

$6,500.00

20074. ISLAND OF AEGINA. Ca. 457–350 BC.
Silver Stater, 12.31 g, 18 mm. Issue of 456/45–431 BC.
Obv. Tortoise with segmented shell, flippers with scales. Rev. Skew pattern in incuse square.
HGC 6, 437, Meadows, Aegina, Group IIIb; Milbank, Period IV, pl. II, 12.
NGC graded CHOICE VF STAR, Strike 5/5, Surface 5/5, exceptional example.

Although the longstanding obverse type of Aegina had been the sea turtle, this attractive piece, which even preserves the details of the scaly legs, features a land tortoise. The shift from turtle to tortoise has sometimes been associated with the eclipse of Aeginetan maritime trade by the Athenians in the fifth century BC. Athens already targeted Aegina in the 480s by supporting a failed democratic coup in the island city. In 457/6 BC the Athenians forced Aegina to join the Delian League, which was essentially growing into an Athenian empire. A few decades later, in 430 BC, the Athenians permanently destroyed Aegina as a trade competitor by expelling the city’s population and replacing it with Athenian colonists.