AEGINA SILVER STATER – SPECTACULAR LAND TURTLE TYPE – CHOICE VF NGC GRADED GREEK AEIGNA COIN (Inv. 20187)

$8,000.00

20187. ISLAND OF AEGINA. Ca. 457–350 BC.
Silver Stater, 12.33 g, 21 mm. Issue of 456/45–431 BC.
Obv. Tortoise with segmented shell. Rev. Heavy skew pattern in incuse square.
HGC 6, 437, Meadows, Aegina, Group IIIb; Milbank, Period IV, pl. II, 12.
Ex Edward J. Waddell (inv. 55725).
NGC graded CHOICE VF, Strike 5/5, Surface 5/5, struck on a broad planchet, with wonderful detail and great eye appeal. This is an example of the first emission of tortoise coins struck by the island, characterized by the heavy skew pattern on the reverse.

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 com