Featured Aegina stater

I think you've got the species nailed down TIF, and I believe that the religious theory is plausible. Some Native American tribes from the plains worshiped (or nearly) animals like the bison, which granted them most of of the materials need to live. Could it be that Aegina's religion was sea turtle worship (as it could have supplied them with materials as you suggested)? What if they over fished the turtles? Then they might have had to switch to the nearest thing, land turtles.

 

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i was trying to mess around and learn how to do some AV stuff, so for practice i made a slideshow of AJ's awesome coin...thought i would go ahead and post it. was going to do everyone's turtle coins..but got burned out.

it came out not so bad...lol!

 

That...is one of the most bizarre and strangest things I have ever seen.

Nice work!

 

That's hilarious - The North American definitive difference between a tortoise and turtle isn't whether it has clawed feet or webbed flippers; but the percentage of its life it spends in water as compared to land. I'm not sure what the European definition is or if it is even taken into account when classifying these coins. I heard somewhere (maybe on CT) that the Aegina stater started going toward flippers from feet to define their rising naval strength.

 

chrmat71 => that was awesome!! (man, the Turtle-boy clip from the fair never gets old, eh?)

=> can't wait to see/hear Jonathon in his next chrsmat production!! (EPIC)

 

My first sea turtle shows the head turned to the side and I believe look better shown swimming left. These early ones rarely have all the limbs and this one is better for it since it allows the three clawed leg to be on flan and clear. It also has a nice beak. I prefer turtles with faces. Round flans were not considered necessary until later.


It is hard to resist shooting these angles on many turtles.

Another beaked die also has a claw (at the bottom this time) but is most distinctive because of the large die cud that takes up much of the bottom of the field. A die duplicate of this was sold as but I do not have the references to check it.

My obol has little to recommend it in terms of head which is at the edge of the flan.


There are a lot of really worn turtles out there. They must have circulated a long time.

 

=> ain't that a fact!! ... my humble, worn ol' turtle looks a bit like it must have been a worry-stone for one, or perhaps several of the ol' Greek prophets?!!

Ummm, you can still make-out the outline of a turtle .... oh well, I still love my lil' Yertle!! (swim, you lil' bugger ... swim!!)





.... 19mm & 11.76 grams ...

AncientJoe => I do "not" want a pose-down!!

 

It is indeed - it's probably a bit more than twice as thick as the flan, and looking at the coin now, my pictures don't even give it justice for how thick it is. I'm going to need to find a way to take a picture of it completely on its side to show the full thickness.

You are exactly correct: I've encountered testudo graeca a few times by different houses - nice sleuthing!

 

It was lot 139 in the latest Gemini sale (which doesn't include the buyer's premium) - I won't post the price here but it can be found relatively easily.

This is quite a bit larger, I measure it at 27.5mm in diameter: definitely not a typical example for this type (and I had a few different dealers say it was the nicest they've ever seen, all factors considered).

 

Love it!

 

I do regret not bidding in the Millennium collection: I was unfortunately focused on US coins when it was being sold. I agree about the significant price difference for the highest grades - also, the Galba/Vitellius aurei mentioned were very nicely Boscoreale toned which adds a significant premium.

Some of the other pieces from the Millennium collection have been resold in the last couple years for considerable premiums over their original sale price. There are still some "??" prices from the sale but others that make me wish for a time machine.

 

Who would have thought my stater would be a movie star! To further the turtle/tortoise discussion, here's an educational viral video which will be forever embedded in your subconscious after viewing:

 

Lol! urtle urtle urtle. Thanks for that earworm

Please, someone post a fox coin so we have an reason to post a certain insane video of a current and inexplicable pop song...

 

Wow...just wow...

 

I just looked at the Gemini VII auction. I found the coin, the attribution and the price. Sounds about right for that coin. Congrats!

 

it's a tortoise!

now it in my skull.....lol!

what a great thread!

 

I should have posted this perspective earlier but I'm just now going through and reimaging several of my coins. Here's the tortoise straight on from the side!

 

Wow! That's some relief!

 

Looking at this Aegina, it reminds me of one of the late style staters in my collection. It too has a turtle in extremely high relief. I love the detail in the shell! The reverse shows a small dolphin. It's almost as if the people of Aegina is trying to say "Ok, so we had to change the design fro turtle to a tortoise, but we'll put this tiny dolphin there to remind you that we are still an important maritime state".

I will take a picture of the reverse and post it soon.

AEGINA.
AR-Stater, 4. Jahrhundert v. Chr.; Milbank Periode VI, Pl. III, 2; SNG Delepierre -, vergl. 1548

Aegina Stater by Skakke posted Oct 24, 2016 at 11:04 AM

 

Shakke => can we see both sides of that sweet tortoise?