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Hekte
| Issuer | Mytilene |
|---|---|
| Year | 377 BC - 326 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Laureate head of Apollo facing right, rendered in fine archaic-to-classical style with delicate facial features and a wreath of laurel leaves crowning the hair. The portrait is depicted in high relief against a plain field, with carefully articulated strands of hair falling behind the neck. The die-cutting exhibits the refined craftsmanship characteristic of Mytilenean electrum coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Mytilene's electrum hektai were produced under a long-running civic agreement with Phokaia, the two cities alternating reverse types on a shared standard across several centuries. Bodenstedt 95 falls within the later phase of that sequence, issued during a politically turbulent stretch that included Mytilene's shifting allegiances between Persia and the Aegean Greek world following the King's Peace of 387 BC.
The natural electrum alloy used by Mytilene — drawn from Lydian river sources — gave these coins a gold content that fluctuated slightly between issues, a known variable that ancient merchants apparently accepted without standardized assay.