Kyzikos dominated electrum coinage production in the Aegean throughout the fifth and fourth centuries, issuing an enormous range of hekte types that functioned as a de facto international trade currency across Greek markets. The city's electrum was mined from local alluvial sources and carried a reputation for consistent fineness that made Kyzikenoi — as the staters and their fractions were collectively known — acceptable tender from the Black Sea to Egypt without assay.
The specific type referenced by Von Fritze 165 falls within the later phase of the series, before Philip II's Macedonian expansion disrupted the trade networks that had sustained Kyzikene coinage for over a century.
Kyzikos dominated electrum coinage production in the Aegean throughout the fifth and fourth centuries, issuing an enormous range of hekte types that functioned as a de facto international trade currency across Greek markets. The city's electrum was mined from local alluvial sources and carried a reputation for consistent fineness that made Kyzikenoi — as the staters and their fractions were collectively known — acceptable tender from the Black Sea to Egypt without assay.
The specific type referenced by Von Fritze 165 falls within the later phase of the series, before Philip II's Macedonian expansion disrupted the trade networks that had sustained Kyzikene coinage for over a century.