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Stater
| Issuer | Kyzikos |
|---|---|
| Year | 550 BC - 450 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Facing lion scalp rendered in high relief, depicted frontally with prominent mane indicated by stylized radiating strokes, fierce visage with open jaws, and large rounded ears. Beneath the lion scalp, a tunny fish (tuna) is shown in left profile, serving as the civic emblem of Kyzikos. The composition is boldly modeled in the archaic Greek artistic tradition, with strong plastic relief characteristic of Kyzikene electrum coinage. The field is plain, with no legend or inscription. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Kyzikos, the Propontine city whose electrum coinage dominated Aegean trade finance for roughly two centuries, produced these staters in such volume and consistent quality that they functioned as an international reserve currency across the Greek world. Athenian, Persian, and Thracian merchants alike accepted them by weight without question. The electrum itself was almost certainly sourced from Lydian river deposits rather than local extraction.
Von Fritze's cataloguing of the Kyzikene series identified over 200 distinct obverse types within the broader emission — a deliberate rotation that modern scholars believe served as an anti-counterfeiting measure rather than aesthetic variety.