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Stater
| Issuer | Kyzikos (Mysia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 550 BC - 450 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | A lion sejant sinister, depicted in profile facing left with jaws agape in a roaring pose and right forepaw raised; in the lower field, a tunny fish swims to the left, serving as the characteristic Kyzikene control symbol. The design is rendered in bold archaic relief with strong contour lines typical of late 6th to early 5th century BC Asia Minor coinage. The flan is irregular and convex, characteristic of hammered electrum staters of this period. |
|---|---|
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| Mint | Cyzicus, modern-day Kapıdağ Peninsula, Turkey |
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| Additional information |
Kyzikos was the dominant source of electrum coinage in the ancient Greek world for well over a century, and its staters functioned as a de facto international trade currency across the Black Sea littoral and into the Aegean. The city's position on the Propontis made it the natural clearinghouse for grain moving south from Scythian territories, and these coins moved with that trade. Athenian merchants accepted them readily despite Athens minting its own silver.
Von Fritze's typology catalogued over a hundred distinct reverse types for Kyzikene staters, each issue differentiated by its obverse device while sharing the characteristic tunny fish.