Catalog
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| Issuer | Kyzikos |
|---|---|
| Year | 500 BC - 450 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Electrum Stater (1) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Quadripartite incuse square of millboard type, divided into four recessed compartments by two intersecting raised ridges forming a symmetrical cross pattern. The alternating raised and sunken sections display the characteristic windmill or pinwheel arrangement typical of early Kyzikene electrum coinage. The surface of the incuse panels retains a granular texture from the hammering process. No inscription or additional device is present. |
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| Mint | Kyzikos |
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| Additional information |
Kyzikos, the Propontis city-state that dominated electrum coinage production from roughly the sixth through fourth centuries BC, issued staters on a near-industrial scale that served as the dominant trade currency across the Black Sea littoral and into the Aegean. The city's electrum was locally sourced from river deposits, and Kyzikene staters were trusted precisely because their alloy composition remained remarkably consistent across centuries of production — a monetary reliability that made them acceptable as far east as the Persian satrapal courts.
Von Fritze's typology remains the standard reference for this series. Type 81 falls within the earlier portion of the fifth-century sequence, before the tuna fish reverse tunny became rigidly standardized.