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 |
|---|---|
| Year | 550 BC - 450 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Hekte (⅙) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Quadripartite incuse square divided into four recessed compartments by raised ridges meeting at the centre, a standard reverse type for archaic Kyzikene electrum hektes. The four sections display a rough, granular texture characteristic of the incuse punch technique used in early Greek coinage. The asymmetric depth and surface texture of the individual quadrants reflect the hand-struck nature of the issue. No legend or subsidiary device is present. This reverse type is consistent with archaic coinage production of the late sixth to mid-fifth century BC. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Kyzikos |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Kyzikos, positioned on the southern shore of the Propontis, became the dominant producer of electrum coinage in the Greek world during the fifth century BC, with its hektai serving as a de facto international trade currency across the Aegean and Black Sea networks. The city's natural access to electrum — likely sourced from Lydian river deposits traded northward — allowed a minting program of extraordinary variety, with each type typically issued in small runs before a new design was introduced.
Von Fritze's typology catalogued over a hundred distinct hekte types, a number that continues to expand with new finds.