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Hekte
| Issuer | Kyzikos |
|---|---|
| Year | 550 BC - 450 BC |
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| Reference(s) | Von Fritze#41, SNG France#181, Rosen#436 |
| Obverse description | Forepart of a lion advancing to left, its jaws open and devouring prey, rendered in fine archaic relief characteristic of Kyzikene electrum coinage. To the right of the lion, a tunny fish oriented vertically upward serves as the civic badge of Kyzikos, a device ubiquitous on the city's electrum issues. The surfaces display the lustrous pale gold alloy typical of electrum struck at Kyzikos during the late Archaic period. |
|---|---|
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| Mint | Kyzikos (Mysia) |
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| Additional information |
Kyzikos, positioned on the Propontis with direct access to both Black Sea trade routes and Aegean commerce, became the dominant electrum-minting city of the ancient world during this period. The Kyzikene stater and its fractions, including the hekte, functioned as a trusted international currency across Greek settlements far beyond the Bithynian coast — a remarkable achievement for a regional mint. The natural electrum source here carried a higher gold-to-silver ratio than Lydian material, which specialists argue contributed to the consistent trust placed in these coins by merchants.
Von Fritze's classification of this hekte places it among the tuna-reverse types, the tunny fish being the persistent reverse type that authenticated Kyzikene issues across generations of dies and changing obverse designs.