Hekte

Kyzikos was the dominant source of electrum coinage in the Greek world throughout the fifth and fourth centuries, and its hektai functioned as an international trade currency accepted from the Black Sea to Egypt. The city's natural access to electrum — an alloy occurring in the Pactolus river deposits — gave it a near-monopoly on the denomination for generations. Athenian naval records and temple accounts both reference Kyzikenoi as a standard unit of account, distinct from the city's own silver.

The type series is extraordinarily diverse, with no single reverse type repeated across issues — a deliberate policy that archaeologists believe helped detect counterfeits in circulation.