Hekte

Mytilene's electrum hektes were struck under a long-running civic agreement with neighboring Phokaia — the two cities alternating annual issues, a monetary arrangement documented as early as the fifth century and formalized in a treaty whose terms are partially preserved. This cooperative system is almost unique in the Greek world and explains the stylistic consistency across decades of output despite two distinct issuing authorities.

The Bodenstedt 75 type falls within the period of Mytilene's uneasy recovery following the failed revolt of 428–427 BC, after which Athens had debated — and narrowly voted against — massacring the entire adult male population of the city.