Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Hekte
| Issuer | Kyzikos (Mysia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 550 BC - 500 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Phocaean stater |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain quadripartite incuse square divided by two intersecting raised ridges into four recessed rectangular compartments of roughly equal size, a standard reverse type employed on early electrum coinage of the region. The incuse impression is deeply struck and clearly defined, with the four quadrants showing slight variations in depth consistent with hand-struck hammered production. No legend, symbol, or additional device appears within any of the compartments. The surface retains the characteristic granular texture of the electrum flan. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Cyzicus, modern-day Kapıdağ Peninsula, Turkey |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Kyzikos was among the most prolific issuers of electrum coinage in the ancient Greek world, and its hektes circulated far beyond Mysia — they functioned as a near-universal trade currency across the Black Sea littoral and into the Aegean. The city controlled tuna fishing routes through the Propontis, and the fish motif recurring across Kyzikene types almost certainly reflects that commercial identity rather than any civic or religious program.
The Von Fritze classification system for this series, published in 1912, remains the foundational reference despite over a century of subsequent finds. No ancient mint records survive; attribution relies entirely on typological grouping and hoard provenance.