Achaean League Silver Hemidrachm Good Fine

The Achaean League was originally formed in the 5th Century B.C. but collapsed soon after. When it was reformed around 280 B.C. it quickly grew to include nearly every state in the Peloponnese, except Sparta. It was formed to defend the small states against the larger empires, namely Macedon in the north. Over time the League grew more powerful, defeated Sparta and ruled the whole of the Peloponnese but changed its allegiance to Rome. Sadly for them this eventually lead to Rome gaining domination over all Greece and disbanding the League in all but name in 146 B.C. with the coins continuing until 30 B.C. What makes the League so interesting is that it was a very early example of Federalism, a system where central government shares power with regional governments. It was from the writings of Polybius, a Greek historian who was a roman hostage, that we know about the workings of the League. This infl uenced many modern state founders, chiefly the founding fathers of the United States of America! We have a small group of the Silver Hemidrachm made by the states in the League between 280 and 30 B.C. They have Zeus on the obverse with the Leagues monogram on the reverse. Each coin comes identified as to which state struck it and at what time. These Hemidrachm grade at least Good Fine and we have priced them to please in these times.