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Stater (Coin) Depicting a Land Tortoise

A work made of silver.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of silver.

Date:

404-350 BCE

Artist:

Greek; minted in Aegina, Greece

About this artwork

Coins of Aegina depicted images of sea turtles on their coins when the island of Aegina was the supreme sea power among the Greek city-states. The sea turtle represented its naval strength and resiliency. After its defeat by Athens in 458 BCE, Aegina ceased using the sea turtle and substituted the land tortoise, seen here, to symbolize its lost sea power. On the back (reverse) of this coin is a geometric design of a square divided into 5 triangles.

Status

On View, Gallery 151

Department

Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

Culture

Ancient Greek

Title

Stater (Coin) Depicting a Land Tortoise

Place

Greece (Minted in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

404 BCE–350 BCE

Medium

Silver

Dimensions

Diam.: 2 cm (13/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. William Nelson Pelouze

Reference Number

1923.1128

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/9648/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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