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Hekte
| Issuer | Mytilene |
|---|---|
| Year | 454 BC - 427 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Hekte (14⁄3) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Head of a cow facing right, naturalistically modelled with finely engraved details of the muzzle, eye, and ear, set within a deeply recessed square incuse. The incuse square occupies the majority of the reverse field, a hallmark technique of early electrum coinage from the Aeolian city of Mytilene. The bovine motif is a civic emblem closely associated with Mytilene's coinage series. No legend or inscription accompanies the design. |
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| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Mytilene |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Mytilene and Phocaea operated a formal agreement — attested in ancient sources — to jointly produce electrum coinage on alternating schedules, each city issuing its own types while sharing the broader currency zone of the eastern Aegean. The hekte was the workhorse denomination of this arrangement, circulating widely among merchants and mercenaries across the region during precisely the decades when Athenian imperial pressure on Lesbos was at its most acute.
Bodenstedt 56 falls within a sequence where the natural electrum alloy composition varies noticeably between dies, a consequence of Mytilene drawing on multiple ore sources rather than maintaining a fixed bullion standard.