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Hekte
| Issuer | Kyzikos (Mysia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 550 BC - 450 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.64 g |
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| Obverse description | Forepart of a bull to left, rendered in high relief within a shallow incuse square border, with a trireme (warship) depicted above the bull's back in the upper field, its oars rendered in fine detail. Below the incuse square, a tunny fish swims to the left in the lower field, a characteristic civic badge of Kyzikos appearing on virtually all electrum issues of this mint. The composition is bold and well-executed, reflecting the refined artistic conventions of Archaic Mysian coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Kyzikos was among the most prolific issuers of electrum coinage in the ancient Greek world, and its hektai circulated well beyond the Propontis region — they turn up in hoards from the Black Sea coast to the Aegean littoral. The city's electrum was drawn from alluvial sources rather than refined to a consistent standard, which means the gold-to-silver ratio varies meaningfully across specimens even within the same type.
The Von Fritze typology, still the foundational reference for Kyzikene electrum, was assembled largely from die studies rather than hoard evidence, leaving many attribution sequences debated.