Hekte

Mytilene and Phocaea operated under a formal agreement — likely dating to the late sixth century — to jointly regulate electrum coinage, alternating types on a shared weight standard. This hekte predates that agreement, placing it among the earliest independent Mytilenean issues, struck before the alliance formalized what became one of the ancient world's most stable electrum series. The natural electrum used in early production carried inconsistent gold-to-silver ratios, meaning individual pieces varied in intrinsic value in ways that later, more controlled issues did not.