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Stater
| Issuer | Kyzikos |
|---|---|
| Year | 450 BC - 330 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | 17.0 mm |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Quadripartite incuse square divided into four recessed compartments of alternating raised and sunken sections, a hallmark of early Greek electrum coinage struck by the incuse punch technique. The deeply impressed square exhibits a rough, granular texture within each quarter, resulting from the anvil die strike. The reverse is entirely uninscribed and devoid of figurative imagery, consistent with Kyzikene stater convention throughout the fifth and fourth centuries BC. |
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| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Kyzikos (Mysia) |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Kyzikos held a near-monopoly on electrum coinage in the eastern Aegean for roughly two centuries, and the city's staters functioned as the dominant trade currency across the Black Sea littoral and into Persia. Athenian tribute lists and temple accounts from this period record payments explicitly denominated in Kyzikenoi, a fact that tells you more about their commercial reach than any hoard distribution could. The city sourced its electrum from Lydian river deposits, and the alloy composition varies noticeably across the series — a deliberate inconsistency that Kyzikene merchants apparently had no trouble absorbing, since the coins traded by weight and trust rather than fixed fineness.