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Greek

Two-drachma coin (didrachm), 550-500 BCE

Now On View

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

Greek

Title

Two-drachma coin (didrachm)

Year

550-500 BCE

Medium

Silver

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • silver

Dimensions

Weight: 12.2 g

Place

Aegina

Type

  • Coins

Credit

Museum Appropriation Fund

Object Number

40.015.241

Projects & Publications

Publications

Teaching Notes / Think Like an Archaeologist

Read Online

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Ancient Greek and Roman Galleries

Aegina is thought to be one of the first places in Greece to adopt a system of coinage. These early, simply engraved coins were recognized throughout the ancient world as legitimate currency. Like many coin images, the turtle on the obverse of the coin was a pun. The word “turtle” had been a nickname for Aegina’s silver mines before the island began minting coins. The turtle is cast in high relief to stand up to years of use. The dots down its back serve both aesthetic and practical purposes. These bumps would gradually show wear on the coin, indicating when a buyer should reweigh the coin to recalculate its value.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Two-drachma coin (didrachm) with the accession number of 40.015.241. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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