Coinage considered the Western world’s first is the subject of our blog series covering Whitman Publishing’s 100 Greatest Ancient Coins. Author Harlan J. Berk invites us to learn about the background behind the island creating them, what they were used for, and how the design became symbolic of the place they were created. Friendly reminder that Berk leads us through this particular series from the earliest coinage and onward. Furthermore, their rankings are out of order among the top 100.
#16 – Aegina Sea Turtle Stater (Greece – Circa 530-485 BC)
Located in the middle between Attica and Peloponnese in the Aegean Sea, the island of Aegina gets its name from a companion of Zeus, the god of sky, lightning, and thunder. According to Greek mythology, Aegina was the daughter of Asopus, the river god, and Metope, a nymph. Zeus took Aegina to the island Oenone, and it was there that she gave birth to her son Aeacus. He would later become the king of the island which would thenceforth be called Aegina.
The people of Aegina were mostly traders as the rocky landscape made agriculture nearly impossible. They made their money selling and transporting goods that were produced by others. The success of that means of living also created issues as a surplus of material goods facing a short shelf life forced the Aeginetan prosperity to be converted into silver coin.
It was these silver coins that are considered, according to Berk, the Western world’s first coinage. They were introduced shortly after coinage in the east made an appearance. Aegina staters were also considered the first international trade coins as they circulated throughout the Mediterranean region starting in the late 6th century into the 4th century BC. Evidence of this can be found in the form of small banking countermarks which indicated that the coinage was comprised of good silver.
Staters from Aegina feature a loggerhead turtle on the obverse with a row of small dots down the center of its shell. It is speculated that the turtle is a symbol of Aeginetan ships that sailed the seas, or it was the badge of an important family. There is also a theory that it was simpler to engrave and produce in larger quantities. The reverse features an incused square but was later followed by one divided into eight sections. It eventually developed into a windmill-like pattern and finally an incused square with five parts made up of three rectangles and two triangles.
After being conquered by Athens in 456 BC, Aegina’s staters depicted a land tortoise rather than a sea turtle as they were no longer a sea power.