The shapes of the first Greek silver coins could have been found in two forms, one being elongated and the other one round. These coins were produced on the island of Aegina. The Minting started after Pheidon, who was a benevolent tyrant of Argos, gave an order to start the production. Pheidon was the Head of the Amphyctiony, which was a confederation of seven Doric Greek city-States. This confederation also included Aegina.

 The Head of the Amphyctiony was the first to determine both, weights and measures, for the two types of goods, dry and liquid. People living in Aegina were appreciated for their merchant abilities and they were also good seafarers. The island's inhabitants carried on a good dynamic trade with the Ionians. The coins of Ionians were of great help to the trade, which is why their coinage was very soon adopted by the Aegians.

The illustration engraved on the coins of Aegina included a sea turtle. This was due the fact that the island was considered to be a great sea power, thus the turtle suit the Aegians well. Their "turtle coins" became very popular and widely used. The name commonly used for these coins was "turtles", which is nowadays a German slang expression, meaning "a few bucks". The island's numismatic system was the following:

• 1 Talent = 60 Mnas
• 1 Mna = 100 Drachmas
• 1 Drachma = 6 Obols

During those days people believed in various gods, which is why Pheidon donated to the goddess Hera (located in the temple of Argos) different small metal objects, which were used in the pre-coinage times. The Head of the Amphyctiony was also the one to provide to goddess Hera one of the first Aegina's coins. The coin represented the new numismatic period, which is the period of Pheidon's reign.

The excavations performed on the Argive Heraeum during 1906, discovered the offering and now it can be found at the Numismatic Museum in Athens.