An Aitolian Plate Coin
- sulla80
- 21 hours ago
- 7 min read
Today's coin of interest is a Silver Hemidrachm of the Aitolian League, struck roughly 250 BC. This 2.46-gram hemidrachm is a manifesto of federalism and a testament to the rugged Aitolian people.
Provenance
It is always fun to find a coin and then discover where it has been for the last ~60+ years. This coin came initially with no provenance from the 2026 "The New York Sale" Lot 1026. Errors in the attribution.
Aitolia. Aitolian League (279-168 BC). Silver Hemidrachm (16mm; 2.46 g), struck ca. 250 BC. Head of Aitolia right, wearing kausia. Reverse: Kalydonian boar running right, K(O and monogram) below, spearhead in ex. Agrinion Hoard 628; SNG Copenhagen 10. Die shift reverse. Toned. GoodVery Fine.A little die matching (easy with this particular coin with the die shift) and I found more provenance and corrected the attribution. The nice surprise - this is in two publications:
Dimitra Tsangari's 2002 thesis overseen by Olivier Picard which became the 2007 book
and there are three prior auction listings as well.
Numismatic Fine Arts (NFA) Auction XI in 1982, which featured "Greek Coins from the Norman Davis Collection".
another NY Sale in 2018
and an obverse die match (611b) to a coin in the The Agrinion Hoard
The Coin
![Aitolia, Aitolian League. Silver Triobol (2.46 g), ca. 225-170 BC. Head of Aitolia or the huntress Atalanta right, wearing kausia. rev. AITΩΛΩN above, the Kalydonian boar charging right; below K; in exergue, [A] and spearhead right. Tsangari 606b (this coin) = Norman Davis Collection 130 (this coin); BCD Akarnania 470; Agrinion Hoard 611b (same obv. die). Toned. Choice Very Fine.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/62a3d9_b6175f5ae7c6457d9a7ffae89f620b37~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_504,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/62a3d9_b6175f5ae7c6457d9a7ffae89f620b37~mv2.jpg)
The Aetolian League
By the 3rd century BC, the geopolitical landscape had fractured. Alexander the Great was dead, and his Successors (the Diadochi) were tearing his empire apart. The chaos of this period exposed the inherent fragility independent city-state (polis). The Aitolian League was a confederation of tribal communities in central Greece, previously regarded by the sophisticated Athenians as semi-barbarous mountaineers. Unlike many other leagues, it was not dominated by a single great city but was a "sympoliteia" (shared citizenship) formed by various regional entities. They rose to prominence through a pivotal moment: the Gallic Invasion of 279 BC.
You might ask: "What were the "Gauls" doing in Greece? " These were not the French of modern history, but massive migratory waves of Celtic tribes moving East from Central Europe (regions that would later become France and the Balkans) in search of land and plunder. Led by the warlord Brennus, this "Great Expedition" smashed through the Macedonian army, killing the Macedonian king Ptolemy Keraunos, and poured south into Greece.
Brennus was a terrifying figure to the Greeks, representing a barbaric, existential threat unlike any they had faced since the Persians. His target was the immense wealth stored at the sacred site of Delphi. When the Greek states faltered, it was the Aitolians who led the defense. Utilizing their mountainous terrain to launch guerrilla attacks, they repelled the Gauls, saved the oracle, and drove Brennus to suicide. In doing so, the Aitolians took the stage as a superpower and the protectors of Greek liberty.
The Macedonian Rivalry This hemidrachm, struck around 250 BC, comes from tthe moment when the victorious Aitolian League was expanding. They issued currency to facilitate the trade and military payment of a federal state. "Who were they fighting?" By 250 BC, the wars of Alexander's successors had settled into established, rival kingdoms. The Aitolians’ primary enemy was the Antigonid Dynasty of Macedonia (specifically King Antigonos II Gonatas).
The Macedonians sought to control all of Greece as a hegemony. The Aitolian League stood as the main obstacle to Macedonian dominance, using this federal currency to pay the mercenaries and soldiers who defied the northern phalanxes.
The Obverse: The Personification of a People
In earlier Hellenistic Greek coinage (as portraits were not the norm in archaic times), the obverse was almost exclusively the domain of patron deities - Athena for Athens, Arethusa for Syracuse. Here, we see a portrait that is possibly the personification of the region itself: Aitolia. The profile is depicted with Hellenistic realism: a softness to the chin and cheek, contrasted by the utilitarian geometry of the kausia.
The kausia was a flat, felt cap, iconic to the Macedonians and worn by Alexander's soldiers. It was practical wear for the sun-beaten, rugged terrain of Northern and Central Greece. Depicting a female personification wearing this traditionally masculine, military cap is a powerful visual statement. An image that aligned with Aitolian reputation for martial prowess and guerrilla warfare.
It is also possible that the League was depicting or at least alluding to the spirit of Atalanta: the fierce, independent huntress who was the only woman to run with the heroes of Greece and drew first blood from the Calydonian Boar.
The Reverse: The Beast of Calydon
If the obverse represents the political reality of the League, the reverse recalls their fierce mythology. We see the Calydonian Boar running right, spearhead in the exergue (the space at the bottom of the coin). See Ovid Metamorphoses 8 for a telling of the story and its tragic twists.
According to myth, King Oeneus of Calydon (an Aitolian city) failed to honor Artemis in his harvest sacrifices. In retribution, the goddess unleashed a gigantic boar to ravage the countryside. The resulting "Calydonian Boar Hunt" brought together the great heroes of the age - Theseus, Jason, Peleus, and the Aitolian hero Meleager, alongside the huntress Atalanta.
The Aitolian League uses this myth to broadcast their ancient pedigree. They were reminding the world that their land was the stage for the heroism of the gods. Artistically, the engraver has captured the animal in a moment of kinetic energy. The boar charging, its dorsal bristles raised. The presence of the spearhead in the exergue is a grim narrative conclusion: the beast was formidable, but the Aitolian spear was sharper.
The Die Shift
On this particular coin, a die shift has blurred the legend and the boar. In the ancient minting process, coins were struck by hand. Sometimes, the die would jump or stutter upon impact, creating a "ghosting" or doubling effect on the image. While some seek perfection, this error freezes the split-second action of the mint worker in 250 BC.
The toning of this coin is attractive, ranging from gunmetal grey to iridescent blues and golds, which adds depth to the relief. It highlights the contours of the kausia, allowing the modern eye to read the artistry better than on a blast-white, over-cleaned coin.
The "Agrinion Hoard" was found in 1959, near the modern town of Agrinion (western Greece). It contained a cache of 1,340 silver coins. The vast majority were Aitolian League issues, but it also included coins from Chalcis, Boeotia, and Athens. In 1968, Margaret Thompson (of the American Numismatic Society) published the definitive book on this find: The Agrinion Hoard. The Hoard was buried circa 135–130 BC in the final days of Greek independence.
The Roman Republic had already crushed Macedonia (168 BC) and destroyed Corinth (146 BC). This hoard was likely buried by a wealthy Aitolian merchant or official who feared the instability of the Roman occupation. They hid their wealth hoping to return for it, but never did.
Conclusion
This Aitolian hemidrachm tells the story of a people who lived in the shadow of empires and refused to be eclipsed. It blends the gender-bending iconography of the personified nation with the savage mythology of the Boar Hunt. It is a study in motion and portraiture, a document of the Hellenistic power struggle, and a tangible connection to the mountains of central Greece in the 3rd century BC.
The Collector
Norman Davis was a British-born businessman, philanthropist, and scholar-collector who became a prominent figure in the Pacific Northwest arts scene. Norman Davis was most active as a collector from the 1940s through the 1960s.
Background: A native of Manchester, England, he moved to the United States in the 1930s and settled in Seattle, Washington. He served as the Vice President of Fine Arts for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair and maintained a close relationship with the Seattle Art Museum, where parts of his collection were often displayed.
Distinction: Unlike many "checkbook collectors" who simply amassed objects, Davis was a serious student of the material. He was elected a Fellow of both the Royal Numismatic Society (London) and the American Numismatic Society (New York).
His collection was formed during a period when many significant pre-war European collections were coming to market, allowing him to acquire pieces of exceptional artistic merit and pedigree.
Catalog: The definitive snapshot of his collection is the 1969 catalog by Hyla Troxell (The Norman Davis Collection).
References
Scholten, Joseph B. The Politics of Plunder: Aitolians and Their Koinon in the Early Hellenistic Era. University of California Press, 2000.
Grainger, John D. The League of the Aitolians. Mnemosyne Supplements 200. Leiden: Brill, 1999.
Tsangari, D. "The Aetolian Coinage," in Coinage in the Macedonian Kingdom and its Neighbors.
Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum (SNG) Copenhagen. Vol. 10: Aetolia-Euboea.
Thompson, M., Mørkholm, O., & Kraay, C. M. An Inventory of Greek Coin Hoards (IGCH).
Antonetti, Claudia. “Aitolos and Aitolia: Ethnic Identity per imagines.” In Identitätsbildung und Identitätsstiftung in griechischen Gesellschaften, edited by M. Offenmüller, 183–200. Graz: Grazer Universitätsverlag, 2012.
Apollodorus. The Library. Translated by J. G. Frazer. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1921.
Homer. Iliad. Translated by Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951.
Ovid. Metamorphoses. Translated by Rolfe Humphries. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1955.
Pausanias. Description of Greece. Translated by W. H. S. Jones. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1918–1935.
Scholten, Joseph B. The Politics of Plunder: Aitolians and Their Koinon in the Early Hellenistic Era, 279-217 B.C.E. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
Thompson, Margaret. The Agrinion Hoard. Numismatic Notes and Monographs 159. New York: American Numismatic Society, 1968.
Tsangari, Dimitra I. Corpus des monnaies de la Confédération étolienne. Athens: KIKPE, 2007.
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