Hekte

Kyzikos was the dominant source of electrum coinage in the Greek world during the fifth century, and its hektes functioned as a near-universal trade currency across the Black Sea and Aegean networks. The city's position on the Propontis gave it access to both the Lydian electrum supply and the merchant traffic that demanded a trusted, portable medium of exchange. Unlike most civic coinages of the period, Kyzikene hektes carried no ethnic legend — identity was embedded in the tunny fish device alone, which made them immediately recognizable regardless of the issuing year or design type.