The miraculous victory of the Greek triremes at Salamis

greek trireme

The miraculous victory of the outnumbered Greek triremes over the Persian navy at Salamis is immortalized on this full color, pure silver proof!

Talisman Coins and the Perth Mint are extremely pleased to present the new Famous Naval Battles Series. Following on the heels of the tremendously well received Famous Battles of History program, the Famous Sea Battles series offers pure silver dollars commemorating five important naval conflicts that have shaped the course of

history. All are remembered for their landmark contributions to the annals of naval warfare. The opening salvo (if you will) is the Battle of Salamis, the watershed naval victory for the trireme fleet of the free city of Athens over the Persian navy of King Xerxes.

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The Battle of Salamis

Although heavily outnumbered, the Greek city-states were persuaded by the Athenian general Themistocles to bring the numerically superior Persian fleet to battle, in the hope that a victory would prevent naval operations against the Peloponesus. The Persian king Xerxes was also anxious for a decisive battle. Greek commander Themistocles devised a brilliant strategy that lured the large Persian fleet into the narrow strait between the island of Salamis and the Athenian port-city of Piraeus. Here the Greek triremes attacked furiously, ramming and boarding the tightly-packed formations of Persian ships, which had difficulty turning in the... LINK