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Hekte
| Issuer | Kyzikos |
|---|---|
| Year | 550 BC - 500 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Von Fritze#65, Greenwell#73, SNG von Aulock#1186, Jameson#2169 |
| Obverse description | Facing left profile bust of Perseus wearing a winged Attic helmet, rendered in archaic relief with fine engraving detail. A tunny fish is positioned vertically in the right field with its head oriented downward, serving as the civic badge of Kyzikos. The surfaces display the characteristic warm golden hue of Kyzikene electrum. The flan is irregular and slightly convex, consistent with archaic hammered coinage of the period. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (550 BC - 500 BC) |
| Additional information |
Kyzikos, the Propontine city that dominated electrum coinage production for roughly two centuries, maintained an almost industrial output of hektes distinguished by their naturally occurring electrum alloy — the gold-silver ratio varying batch to batch depending on Pactolian river supplies rather than any controlled mint standard. The city's commercial reach was extraordinary; Kyzikene staters and their fractions circulated as a trusted trade currency from the Black Sea colonies to the Aegean and into Persia, with foreign states accepting them on weight alone rather than issuer trust.
The Von Fritze 65 classification places this piece within a recognized typological sequence, though exact die linkages across the Greenwell and SNG von Aulock concordances remain an active area of specialist study.