Hekte

Mytilene's electrum hektai were struck under a formalized agreement with the neighboring city of Phokaia, the two poleis alternating annual issues on a rotating basis — a monetary arrangement without close parallel in the Greek world. This particular emission falls within the period following Athens' catastrophic Sicilian Expedition, when Aegean trade networks were badly disrupted and Mytilene itself had only recently recovered from the brutal suppression of its 428 BC revolt, after which Athens had debated — and nearly carried out — the execution of the entire male population.

The Phokaia-Mytilene agreement is attested in an inscription dated to around 394 BC, though the coinage predates the surviving text.