Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Hekte
| Issuer | Kyzikos |
|---|---|
| Year | 550 BC - 500 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Hekte (⅙) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Quadripartite incuse square, deeply punched and divided into four recessed compartments by raised ridges meeting at the centre, alternating raised and depressed sections creating a mill-sail or windmill pattern. The incuse is characteristic of early archaic Greek coinage technique, with no inscription or additional device present. The overall impression is bold and geometric, filling the reverse field entirely. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Kyzikos |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Kyzikos dominated electrum coinage in the Aegean for roughly two centuries, and the city's hektes circulated as a trusted trade currency far beyond Mysia — finds have turned up across the Greek world, into the Black Sea region, and as far as Egypt. The natural electrum alloy used here is noteworthy: unlike Lydian issues, Kyzikene coins maintained a broadly consistent gold-to-silver ratio that merchants could rely on, which explains their unusual longevity as a commercial instrument.
Von Fritze's classification remains the foundational reference for this series, though SNG France 206 refines the die grouping considerably.