COINAGE of the GREEK CITY-STATES

Emerging from the late Dark Ages in the eighth to seventh century B.C., the polis or city-state rose up within Greece as various separate settlements emerged within the landscape.

-  TIMOTHY M. RYAN

 This independent and sovereign city would soon become the typical form of Greek urban life. They were thought of as smaller independent countries that were characterized by their own type of rule. This way of life worked well within the natural topography of Greece with its various mountains and tremendous coastline. In this way, various people were able to preserve their own unique culture which would greatly influence the coinage they began to strike in the early sixth century B.C.

AEGINA

One such city-state was Aegina, located just 15 miles southeast of Athens. It was colonized by Dorians and became independent in the sixth century B.C. Maritime trade would lead to commercial prosperity, allowing Aegina to become a powerful city-state before the Persian War.

They would develop one of the earliest mints in Greece, striking the first reliable silver coins that traversed the Mediterranean. In addition to the silver obtained from trading, Aegina also possessed silver rich mines on the island of Siphnos. The highly consistent output of coins during this period resulted in many throughout Greece adopting their weight standard for coinage in the sixth and fifth centuries B.C.

It is believed that the sea turtle image seen on their early coinage refers to their prowess at sea trading and was also the sacred animal of the goddess Aphrodite. The symbology on the coinage of Aegina did evolve over the years, most notably with the type of iconic turtle that was used on the obverse. Later types seem to exhibit a land tortoise with a much boxier shell, most likely referring to Aegina’s loss of independence to Athens in 458 B.C.