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Hekte
| Issuer | Uncertain Ionian city |
|---|---|
| Year | 600 BC - 550 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Electrum |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Forepart of Pegasus advancing to left, rendered in archaic relief characteristic of early Ionian electrum coinage. The winged horse is depicted with the head lowered and the forelegs extended, with the folded wing visible along the body. The surface exhibits the bold, slightly granular texture typical of hammered electrum flans of this period. No legend or inscription appears in the field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Mintage | ND (600 BC - 550 BC) |
| Additional information |
Electrum hektes of uncertain Ionian attribution remain among the most contested early coinages in the field. The western Anatolian coast produced multiple cities striking nearly identical fractional pieces in this period, and without inscriptions — which were not yet standard practice — firm attribution depends entirely on die-linkage studies and metal composition analysis. The electrum itself was likely alluvial, drawn from the gold-bearing rivers of Lydia, and its natural variation in gold-to-silver ratio complicates provenance further.
These fractions circulated in an economy still transitioning away from weighed-bullion exchange, making them among the earliest coins to function as true currency by trust rather than by weight verification.