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Hekte
| Issuer | Kyzikos |
|---|---|
| Year | 500 BC - 450 BC |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Von Fritze#90, SNG France#225-226, Rosen#467 |
| Obverse description | A boar advancing to the left in high relief, rendered with fine archaic naturalism, its bristled dorsal ridge prominently detailed with hatched lines. Beneath the boar, a tunny fish is depicted in left profile, serving as the characteristic Kyzikene ethnic symbol. A small secondary device, possibly a tunny head, appears in the upper left field. The composition fills the broadly convex flan, with no legend or inscription present. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A quadripartite incuse square of mill-sail or windmill type, divided into four recessed compartments by two raised intersecting bars meeting at right angles, with each quadrant exhibiting a rough, granular texture characteristic of archaic electrum coinage. The incuse is deeply struck and centrally placed on the flat reverse flan, with no legend or additional devices present. |
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| Additional information |
Kyzikos dominated the electrum hekte trade across the Greek world for roughly two centuries, and the city's coinage functioned less as local currency than as an international mercantile medium — widely accepted from the Black Sea coast to the Aegean because the natural electrum alloy from the Pactolus region carried a consistent and trusted gold content. The Kyzikenoi, as these hektai were collectively known, were explicitly named in fifth-century Athenian tribute records and private contracts as an acceptable standard of payment.
Each Kyzikene type features a unique reverse tunny fish, a nod to the city's lucrative fishing industry and simultaneously a mint identifier that made forgery conspicuous.