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 | Mytilene (Lesbos) |
|---|---|
| Year | 454 BC - 427 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| 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 | An incuse square of mill-sail or quadripartite type frames a lion's head facing left in raised relief, rendered with an open mouth and mane indicated by fine engraved lines. The deeply recessed incuse square is characteristic of archaic Greek electrum coinage technique, creating a strong contrast between the raised central device and the surrounding sunken field. The lion's head is boldly modeled, with the jaw agape and mane spreading behind the neck. No legend or additional devices appear within the incuse square. The execution reflects the accomplished die-cutting tradition of Mytilene's fifth-century electrum series. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Mytilene, Lesbos, modern-day Mytilene, Greece |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Mytilene and Miletus held a near-monopoly on electrum hekte production during the fifth century, issuing paired types at regular intervals rather than as a continuous series — a practice that makes individual emissions like Bodenstedt 41 datable within relatively tight windows despite the absence of magistrate names or mint dates. The electrum used was not standardized; alloy ratios varied issue by issue, and the natural gold-silver mix sourced from Lydian river deposits gave each emission a slightly different color and specific gravity.
Mytilene's political turbulence in this period is worth noting. The city's eventual revolt against Athens in 428 BC and the brutal Mytilenean Debate that followed nearly ended in the execution of the entire male population.