Hekte

Phokaia's electrum hektai were produced under a formal minting agreement shared with Mytilene on Lesbos — the two cities alternating annual issues, a monetary arrangement documented as early as the fifth century and codified in a surviving treaty fragment. Phokaia's share of that agreement ran until the city fell to Persian control in 387 BC, which is precisely what closes the production window for this type.

Bodenstedt 57 falls within the mature phase of the series. The natural electrum used by Phokaia had a gold-to-silver ratio that fluctuated with each batch, creating measurable variation in specific gravity across specimens — a persistent headache for modern auction house assayers.