Hekte

Kyzikos was the dominant electrum-minting city of the ancient world for roughly two centuries, and its hektes functioned as an international trade currency across the Black Sea and Aegean long before Alexander's conquests homogenized coinage in the region. The city's position on the Propontis made it the unavoidable waypoint for grain shipments moving south from Scythia, and Kyzikene electrum became the preferred medium for large mercantile transactions — Athenian bankers quoted prices in it.

The natural electrum alloy used here, drawn from Lydian river sources, meant no two pieces carry identical gold-to-silver ratios.