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Hekte
| Issuer | Phokaia |
|---|---|
| Year | 625 BC - 522 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | Bodenstedt#18, SNG von Aulock#7945 |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Quadripartite incuse square divided into four recessed compartments of alternating depth, produced by a square punch applied during striking. The central square recess is deeply impressed and surrounded by four roughly equal triangular or rectangular incuse sections radiating outward, creating a cruciform pattern within the overall square incuse. This purely functional reverse device is typical of archaic Greek electrum fractions and served as a countermark to confirm the metal content of the flan. No legend or figurative design is present. |
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| Mint | Phokaia (Ionia) |
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| Additional information |
Phokaia was among the first Greek cities to strike electrum coinage, and its issues predate the broader adoption of coinage across the Aegean by decades. The city's access to naturally occurring electrum — an alloy of gold and silver found in the riverbeds of Lydia — gave Ionian mints a head start that mainland Greek cities could not replicate without importing the metal. Phokaia and Mytilene eventually formalized a shared coinage agreement, likely in the early fourth century, but these earlier autonomous hektes predate that arrangement entirely.
Bodenstedt 18 places this type in the middle sequence of Phokaian electrum production, before the Persian destruction of the city in 546 BC effectively ended its independent mint for a generation.