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Hekte
| Issuer | Kyzikos |
|---|---|
| Year | 550 BC - 500 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.63 g |
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| Obverse description | Bearded head of Poseidon facing left, helmeted with a crested sea-monster head forming the helmet bowl, rendered in archaic Greek style with bold, stylized facial features. A tunny fish (Thunnus thynnus), the civic emblem of Kyzikos, is depicted to the right in the lower field beneath the portrait. The relief is high and the execution vigorous, consistent with the finest Kyzikene electrum coinage of the archaic period. The flan is irregularly round, typical of hammered electrum issues of this era. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (550 BC - 500 BC) |
| Additional information |
Kyzikos dominated electrum coinage in the Greek world for roughly two centuries, and its hektes circulated far beyond the Propontis region as a trusted trade currency across the Aegean and into the Black Sea. The city's issues were so widely accepted that Athenian mercantile records reference Kyzikenoi as a near-universal standard for large transactions — a remarkable position for a single city-state's coinage to hold.
The electrum itself was locally sourced, alloyed to a consistent gold-silver ratio that Kyzikos maintained with unusual discipline across successive issues. SNG von Aulock 7291 belongs to the archaic phase of this long series, before the designs became more formulaic in the fifth century.