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Hekte
| Issuer | Mytilene |
|---|---|
| Year | 454 BC - 427 BC |
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| Composition | Electrum |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Female head facing slightly to the right, rendered in fine archaic to early classical style with delicate facial features. The hair is swept back and bound with a diadem or wreath, with individual locks rendered in relief along the temples and crown. The face is depicted in a three-quarter view, displaying well-modelled eyes, a straight nose, and slightly parted lips. The high-relief portrait fills the flan, characteristic of the refined Mytilenaean electrum coinage. No inscription or legend appears in the field. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain, irregular |
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| Additional information |
Mytilene and Kyzikos dominated electrum coinage in the Aegean during the fifth century, but where Kyzikos struck prolific series for wide regional circulation, Mytilene's hektai were produced in tight, carefully controlled issues — each obverse type paired with a specific reverse, making individual die pairings like this Bodenstedt 45 specimen identifiable and finite. The natural electrum alloy from Lydian sources was not standardized; gold content varied between issues, and Mytilene's moneyers are thought to have maintained quality deliberately to sustain the coinage's reputation in Aegean trade networks.
The dating bracket places this piece within the period of Mytilene's membership in the Delian League, before the catastrophic revolt of 428–427 BC that ended with Cleon's assembly vote to execute the entire adult male population — a sentence only narrowly reversed.