Hekte

Mytilene and Phocaea operated under a formal agreement — likely established in the early fifth century — by which the two cities alternated production of electrum hektes on a shared standard, dividing output between them while maintaining distinct types. This piece falls within the decades immediately following Mytilene's participation in the Ionian Revolt and its aftermath under Persian dominance, a period when the city was carefully rebuilding commercial relationships across the Aegean. The natural electrum alloy used at Mytilene was not refined to a fixed gold-silver ratio, meaning individual coins from this series vary measurably in fineness.