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Hekte
| Issuer | Mytilene |
|---|---|
| Year | 521 BC - 478 BC |
| Type | 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 |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Facing archaic gorgoneion mask rendered in bold relief, occupying nearly the entire field. The visage displays the characteristic apotropaic features of the type: wide-set bulging eyes, a broad flattened nose, and a gaping mouth with protruding tongue flanked by prominent fangs. Serpents emerge from the crown of the head and coil outward to either side, framing the face with writhing tendrils. The surrounding field shows additional serpentine coils at the periphery, all executed in the vigorous, stylized manner characteristic of late Archaic Greek coin engraving. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Mytilene and Phocaea operated a formal agreement — documented in ancient sources and confirmed by hoard distribution — to jointly produce electrum coinage on a shared standard, one of the few inter-city monetary arrangements of the archaic Greek world. This hekte predates that later agreement, placing it among Mytilene's earliest independent electrum issues, struck when Lesbos was still navigating the shadow of Lydian and then Persian hegemony over the Ionian coast.
The electrum itself is naturally occurring alloy from the Lydian sphere, and the precise gold-to-silver ratio varies between dies — a known inconsistency in Bodenstedt's classification of this type.