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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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| Reverse description | Eagle standing to right in three-quarter facing posture within a shallow incuse square of quadripartite design, consistent with the reverse type characteristic of Mytilene hektes of this period. The bird's plumage is rendered with careful detail, showing layered wing feathers and a pronounced hooked beak turned slightly downward. The legs and talons are clearly delineated, with the eagle appearing to stand on a ground line at the base of the incuse square. The entire design is contained within a recessed rectangular punch, the surrounding field plain and unlettered. |
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| Mint | Mytilene, Lesbos |
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| Additional information |
Mytilene's electrum hektai were produced under a remarkably stable monetary arrangement with Phokaia — the two cities alternately issued coins, sharing a fixed alloy standard and rotating types on a schedule that held for roughly two centuries. This cooperative agreement is almost without parallel in the Greek world, where city-states typically guarded their monetary autonomy fiercely.
The Bodenstedt 104 type falls within the later production phase, after Mytilene's brief occupation by Mausolus of Caria in the 360s and during the period of renewed Athenian interest in the region. The electrum alloy used was naturally occurring from Lydian river sources, though by this period some artificial blending is suspected.