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Hekte
| Issuer | Mytilene (Lesbos) |
|---|---|
| Year | 412 BC - 378 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Laureate head of Apollo facing right, rendered in high relief with sensitively modelled facial features characteristic of late 5th-century Greek engraving. The deity's hair is arranged in flowing locks falling behind the neck, with a laurel wreath clearly visible crowning the head. The portrait displays the idealized yet naturalistic style associated with the finest Mytilenaean electrum coinage, with a well-defined eye, prominent nose, and slightly parted lips. The flan is slightly irregular and convex, typical of hammered electrum hektes of this series. |
|---|---|
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| Mint | Mytilene, Lesbos, modern-day Mytilene, Greece |
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| Additional information |
Mytilene dominated electrum hektai production on Lesbos across the late fifth and early fourth centuries, issuing a remarkable succession of matched obverse-reverse type pairs that changed with unusual regularity — a practice scholars believe reflects annual or biennial reissues tied to civic or festival cycles rather than simple monetary demand. The natural electrum alloy sourced from the region carried a gold content that varied batch to batch, and Bodenstedt's exhaustive typology of the series revealed that later issues like this one trend toward a slightly lower gold proportion than earlier Mytilenean output.