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Hekte
| Issuer | Mytilene |
|---|---|
| Year | 521 BC - 478 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Facing gorgoneion (Medusa head) rendered in high relief at center of the flan, displaying a broad frontal visage with bulging eyes, a wide grimacing mouth with protruding tongue, and flanking serpentine hair rendered in fine archaic style. The face exhibits the characteristic apotropaic expression of the early Greek artistic canon, with bold modeling that exploits the plasticity of the electrum planchet. No legend or inscription is present; the design fills the entire obverse field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Head of a calf or young bull in left profile, rendered in incuse relief within a shallow square punch, a characteristic technique of early Lesbian electrum coinage. The head is depicted with carefully delineated mane, ear, and muzzle, with a small quadripartite incuse square visible beneath the neck. The reverse design is entirely uninscribed, conforming to the standard archaic Mytilenaean hekte format in which the reverse serves primarily as a countermark to authenticate the flan. |
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| Additional information |
Mytilene and Phokaia operated a formal agreement — attested in ancient sources — to alternate electrum coinage production, ensuring neither city flooded the Aegean market. The hekte was the workhorse denomination of this system, circulating widely across Ionian and Lydian trade networks at a time when the Persian-controlled interior was simultaneously driving Greek coastal cities toward more standardized exchange media.
Bodenstedt 19.1 falls within the archaic phase of Mytilenean production, predating the reformulations that followed the Ionian Revolt of 499–493 BC and Persia's subsequent tightening grip on Lesbos.