Coin minting is an invention of the ancient Greeks, here coins of Greek city states, silver, struck by hand, diameter of 0.6 - 2.5 cm. Ancient coins have no numbers or value information. The only distinguishing features are material, size and motifs. Top left: Stater from Aegina (an important trading center due to its geographical location), 530 - 500 BC. The legendary coin is one of the oldest and most famous coins. Top right: Drachma from Aegina, 404 - 340 BC, after the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC, the sea turtle had to be replaced by a more modest land turtle under pressure from the victor Athens! Bottom left: a replica of the stater. Bottom right: Stater from Aegina, 456 - 431 BC, very good condition. In the middle: Hemibol (hemi = half obol) from Lesbos, 400 -375 BC, very rare and probably the smallest coin that has been minted so well (diameter 6 mm), partly acquired at auctions by the private bank Hauck & Aufhäuser. In the proverb from Aegina "Courage and wisdom are no match for turtles", "turtles" stand for the vice of greed, derived from the coins. The use of language "to pay one's obolus" also goes back to Greek coins. The colloquial term "toads" for money also comes from this. The collection also includes gold-coloured turtle cufflinks, the design of which is clearly based on the coins described. [hint: this is an automatic translation from German]   |   Category: Coins   |   Material: Metall   |   Country of origin: Attica, Greece | Similar pieces