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Session Five - Tuesday, February 14th 10:00am PST
C
HOICE
Q
UALITY
A
EGINA
S
EA
T
URTLE
AR S
TATER
,
CA
. 550-530/25 BC
Enlargement
1656 Islands off Attica, Aegina. Silver Stater (12.14 g), ca. 550-530/25 BC
. Sea turtle, head in profile, with ' proto-heavy' collar and row of
dots down carapace.
Reverse:
Incuse square of ' proto-Union Jack' device. Meadows grp Ib; Milbank pl. I, 12; HGC 6, 425. Lightly toned.
Extremely Fine
.
Estimate Value ....................................................................................................................................................................... $2,500 - 3,000
The Hanbery Collection; Purchased privately from NFA in 1986.
The Aeginetan "turtle" - the popular name given to the stater on account of its obverse type - was a staple of trade throughout the Aegean during
the Archaic and early Classical periods. The simple and graceful outline of the turtle' s shell is attractive and inspired imitation and modification at
other cities, most notably at Orchomenos in Boiotia, where the turtle became a sprouting barleycorn with the hard kernel of the grain taking the
place of the turtle shell. The wide circulation of Aeginetan coinage in Greece led to the adoption of the Aeginetan standard in much of the Pelo-
ponnesos, Central, and Northern Greece. This standard continued to be employed in many places even after 431 BC, when the Athenians expelled
the Aeginetans from their island home and turtle production ended.
V
ERY
R
ARE
T
RANSITIONAL
' P
ROTO
-T
ORTOISE
' T
YPE
S
TATER
Enlargement
1657
Islands off Attica, Aegina. Silver Stater (12.14 g), ca. 550-530/25 BC
. ' Proto-tortoise' with thin collar.
Reverse:
Incuse square of '
proto-Union Jack' device. Meadows grp Ib; Milbank pl. I, 12; HGC 6, 427.
Very Rare.
Boldly struck in high relief. Some spots of horn silver on
the edges. Lightly toned.
Very Fine
.
Estimate Value ................................................................................................................................................................. $1,500 - 2,000
The Hanbery Collection.
1658
Islands off Attica, Aegina. Silver Stater (11.74 g), ca.
370 BC
. Land tortoise with segmented shell.
Reverse:
Incuse
square of thin skew pattern. Milbank pl. II, 14; SNG Delepierre
1545; Dewing 1686. Uniform light grey tone.
Very Fine
.
Estimate Value ......................................................$300 - 400
The Hanbery Collection.