Major mints: Oeniadae, Thyrreum, Leukas. Coinage also issued for the Akarnanian League.

A district in western Greece on the Ionian Sea. Although they were Greeks, they were also considered backward and barbaric. The coastal cities were mainly Corinthian foundations, despite the legend that they were ruled by Odysseus, according to Homer.

Some time before 450 BC the Akarnanian cities formed a league, with the federal capital at Stratos on the river Achelous; the League coinage showed the personification of the river-god.

The Akarnanian cities were often in conflict with the Corinthian colonies, Ambrakia in particular, and in the Peloponnesian War they supported Athens. As a result they were conquered by Sparta fifteen years. They then backed Thebes in its brief bid for pre-eminence before falling to the aggressive expansion of Philip II of Macedon.

Once the Macedonian empire collapsed they reformed their league, with its capital on the island of Leukas. They fell under Roman control after 200, after supporting Philip V against Rome As their League had lost all real power they were able to maintain the form of a League until the time of Augustus.

Oeniadae, typical of the Akarnanian states, featured the river god Achelous on its coins, named for the nearby river, longest of mainland Greece, which flows into the mouth of the Corinthian Gulf. Thyrreum, as was fitting for a Corinthian colony, issued staters of the Corinthian type with Athena