Mytilene, the dominant polis of Lesbos, was unusual among Aegean minting authorities in producing its primary electrum coinage in hecte denominations rather than building a full silver series. This diobol belongs to a supplementary silver coinage that circulated alongside those electrum hectai, likely serving smaller transactions that the higher-value electrum fractions made awkward. The fourth century saw Mytilene caught between Athenian, Spartan, and eventually Persian pressure — the King's Peace of 387 BC formally handed the Asiatic Greek cities back to Persia, directly affecting Mytilenean autonomy and, almost certainly, its mint output.
Mytilene, the dominant polis of Lesbos, was unusual among Aegean minting authorities in producing its primary electrum coinage in hecte denominations rather than building a full silver series. This diobol belongs to a supplementary silver coinage that circulated alongside those electrum hectai, likely serving smaller transactions that the higher-value electrum fractions made awkward. The fourth century saw Mytilene caught between Athenian, Spartan, and eventually Persian pressure — the King's Peace of 387 BC formally handed the Asiatic Greek cities back to Persia, directly affecting Mytilenean autonomy and, almost certainly, its mint output.