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Hekte
| Issuer | Kyzikos |
|---|---|
| Year | 450 BC - 330 BC |
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| Value | 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 |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A quadripartite incuse square dominates the reverse field, divided into four recessed compartments of roughly equal size by raised ridges meeting at the center, creating a windmill or skew pattern. The incuse design is deeply struck with an irregular, granular surface texture characteristic of hammered electrum coinage. This standard reverse type is typical of Kyzikene hektes throughout the fifth and fourth centuries BC, serving as the die-punch countermark confirming the coin's authenticity and metal content. No legends or additional devices are present. |
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| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Kyzikos (Mysia) |
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| Additional information |
Kyzikos dominated electrum coinage production in the Aegean for roughly two centuries, and its hektai functioned as a de facto international trade currency across the Greek world — accepted far beyond Mysia in markets from the Black Sea to the Levant. The city's control of local electrum sources and its position on the Propontis made this possible. Von Fritze's typology for Kyzikene issues remains the standard reference precisely because the series is so extensive and the die combinations so numerous that earlier catalogers struggled to impose order on it.