Following the successful launch of the silver editions in 2020/21 now we are  pleased to present a mini gold set comprising of the Athenian Owl, Tortoise & Pegasos. CIT has now transferred these iconic symbols onto a modern coins.

• The Athenian Owl tetradrachm, renamed after the Greek goddess of wisdom, is arguably the most popular and recognized ancient coin. The owl was associated with Athena very early on in archaic artworks and often depicted perching on her hand. Because of its strong connection with the goddess, the owl evolved into the Athenians’ own icon and graced a large variety of coins such as the tetradrachm from as early as the 5^th century BC.
• The turtle was used during ancient Greek times as a monetary symbol and was struck on coins that were first made on the island of Aegina in the south of Greece. Today, the original ancient turtle coins are highly prized and extremely valuable.
• Pegasus, or Pegasos as he was called by the Greeks, was a winged horse, born from the liaison of the sea-god Poseidon and the beautiful Medusa. It is one of the most recognized creatures in Greek mythology. The liaison made the goddess Athena angry, and she cursed Medusa to be ugly and deadly. When she was killed, Pegasus sprang from her neck. Thus the flying horse can be used as a metaphor for the soul’s immortality. In modern times it has been regarded as a symbol of poetic inspiration. Namely, just like Poseidon, Pegasus was capable of creating water streams wherever he’d struck his hoof. At least two famous springs in Greece, both named Hippocrene (“Horse Spring”), were widely believed to have been issued forth by Pegasus’ hoof. Corinth was a rich and quite powerful ancient city and seaport on the narrow isthmus that joins the Peloponnesos with the rest of Greece. Like most Hellenic city-states, Corinth produced its own distinctive coins. Pegasos appears on many coins of them and is one of the most important and known ancient coins.

Obverse

The obverse carries the Ian Rank Broadley effigy of Queen Elizabeth II on it and is issued under the authority of the Cook Islands.

Packaging

Each design is presented in a capsule in CIT’s minigold collector’s box. A certificate of authenticity is enclosed.