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Hekte
| Issuer | Mytilene |
|---|---|
| Year | 478 BC - 455 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.52 g |
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| Obverse description | Facing right, the powerfully modelled head of a roaring lion rendered in high relief, with open jaws displaying prominent teeth, deeply engraved mane radiating in bold ridges across the neck and scalp, and a fiercely expressive eye. The design fills the convex flan in the characteristic Archaic Greek style, with no legend or border. The naturalistic yet stylised treatment reflects the high artistic standard of Mytilenean electrum coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Mytilene and Phokaia operated under a formal agreement — likely renewed periodically — to jointly regulate electrum coinage on Lesbos, standardizing weights and alternating types across mints. The Mytilenean hekte series ran for roughly two centuries, with Bodenstedt's typology remaining the primary organizational framework since his 1981 publication. This piece falls in the earlier phase of that sequence, struck within a generation of the Persian Wars, when Mytilene was navigating its position as a tribute-paying member of the Delian League.