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Stater
| Issuer | Kyzikos (Mysia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 410 BC - 330 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Electrum |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain incuse square punch of quadripartite design, with a large recessed square divided into four compartments by raised ridges forming a mill-sail or swastika-like pattern, characteristic of the archaic and classical hammered technique employed at Kyzikos. The incuse is deeply impressed and irregular in texture, showing the rough surface typical of the reverse of Kyzikene electrum staters. No legend or subsidiary type is present. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | ND (410 BC - 330 BC) |
| Additional information |
Kyzikos held a near-monopoly on electrum coinage in the eastern Aegean for roughly two centuries, and its staters functioned as the dominant high-value trade currency across the Greek world during that period — accepted from the Black Sea grain ports to the Athenian agora. The city's position on the Propontis made it an unavoidable transit point, and its coinage was trusted precisely because Kyzikene electrum carried a consistent natural gold-to-silver ratio without the adulteration that plagued many civic issues.
Each stater in the series bears a different reverse type, making die-for-die duplication essentially nonexistent across the corpus. Von Fritze's cataloguing effort, still the authoritative reference, identified over 200 distinct types within the series.