Silver stater with a turtle

Silver staters of Aegina

Silver stater of Aegina, 550-530 BC. Obv. Sea turtle with large pellets down center. Rev. incuse square with eight sections. After the end of the Peloponnesian War, 404 BC, Sea turtle was replaced by the land tortoise.

Silver drachma of Aegina, 404-340 BC. Obverse: Land tortoise. Reverse: inscription AΙΓ[INAΤΟΝ] ([of the] Aeg[inetans]) "Aegina" and dolphin.

The silver stater with a Turtle is a coin from the 6th century BC Greece. The front has a sea turtle design, while the back has a punch mark, found on most coins at that time. The earliest coins were made of electrum, a mix of gold and silver. The coins were first made in the island of Aegina off the south east side of Greece. Some historical sources say the first coins were made by the king off Argos, Pheidon. The coins with 'turtle' design are considered "an important early trading currency".