Hekte

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.