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Stater
| Issuer | Kyzikos |
|---|---|
| Year | 550 BC - 450 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 | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
| Reference(s) | Greenwell#58, Von Fritze#121, SNG France#267 |
| Obverse description | Central figural composition depicting a winged male deity or hero, rendered in high relief in the archaic Greek style, shown frontally in a dynamic striding or kneeling posture. The figure grasps two large fish, one in each outstretched hand, their bodies curving outward symmetrically to either side. The musculature and drapery are rendered with the stylised, linear conventions characteristic of late archaic Ionian coinage. The entire design occupies the broad, irregular flan typical of Kyzikene electrum staters, with no legend or inscription present in the field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Quadripartite incuse square of standard Kyzikene type, divided into four roughly equal recessed compartments by raised ridges forming a cross pattern, alternating raised and sunken sections in a windmill or mill-sail arrangement. The incuse is deeply impressed into the broad, irregular flan and displays no figural decoration or inscription. This reverse type is characteristic of the electrum coinage struck at Kyzikos throughout the archaic and early classical periods, serving as the die countermark authenticating the coin's weight and metal standard. |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
Kyzikos, a Milesian colony on the Propontis, dominated the electrum coinage market across much of the fifth century BC to a degree that made its staters a de facto international trading currency throughout the Greek world. The city's natural access to electrum — the gold-silver alloy occurring in the sands of nearby rivers — gave it a raw material advantage that mints further inland simply could not replicate.
Each Kyzikene stater type is effectively a unique die combination, with the city issuing hundreds of distinct reverse types over roughly a century of production. The specific type referenced by Von Fritze 121 falls within the middle of that long series.