Kyzikos dominated electrum coinage production in the fifth century BC to a degree no other city matched — its issues circulated as a de facto international currency across the Greek world, accepted in markets from the Black Sea to the Aegean without conversion. The city's electrum was alloyed to a remarkably consistent standard, which underpinned that trust across generations of trade.
The hekte, one-sixth of the Kyzikenian stater, was the workhorse denomination of that system. Von Fritze's classification remains the authoritative framework for these issues, though the chronology within his groupings continues to be debated.
Kyzikos dominated electrum coinage production in the fifth century BC to a degree no other city matched — its issues circulated as a de facto international currency across the Greek world, accepted in markets from the Black Sea to the Aegean without conversion. The city's electrum was alloyed to a remarkably consistent standard, which underpinned that trust across generations of trade.
The hekte, one-sixth of the Kyzikenian stater, was the workhorse denomination of that system. Von Fritze's classification remains the authoritative framework for these issues, though the chronology within his groupings continues to be debated.