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Myshemihekte
| Issuer | Kyzikos (Mysia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 450 BC - 330 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 6 mm |
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| Obverse description | Forepart of a lion crouching to the left, rendered in bold archaic relief characteristic of Kyzikene electrum coinage. The lion's musculature is vigorously articulated, with the head turned slightly and the forepaws extended forward. A tunny fish, the civic emblem of Kyzikos, appears beneath the lion as an adjunct device. The design is struck on a slightly convex, irregularly rounded flan typical of hammered electrum fractions. The field is unlettered. |
|---|---|
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| Mint | Kyzikos Mint |
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| Additional information |
Kyzikos was the dominant producer of electrum coinage in the Greek world from the late archaic period through the mid-fourth century, issuing an extraordinary range of hekte and fractional denominations that circulated far beyond Mysia. The myshemihekte — a quarter of a hekte — served the city's extensive commercial network around the Propontis and Black Sea littoral. Kyzikene electrum was sufficiently trusted that it functioned as an international trading currency, appearing in hoards from Egypt to the Ukrainian steppe.
Von Fritze's cataloguing of this fraction remains the standard reference, though the series presents persistent attribution difficulties given the sheer variety of die types produced over nearly 120 years of continuous output.