Hekte

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.