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Stater
| Issuer | Kyzikos |
|---|---|
| Year | 550 BC - 450 BC |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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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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| Technique | Hammered, Incuse |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A quadripartite incuse square divided into four equal rectangular compartments by a bold raised cross, each quadrant presenting an alternating raised and recessed surface in a mill-sail or checker pattern, a hallmark of early electrum coinage struck at Kyzikos. The incuse is deeply impressed and precisely executed, reflecting the anvil-die technique characteristic of archaic Asia Minor mint practice. The surrounding flan surface is plain and unbounded by any border or legend. No inscription or additional device is present. The overall effect is one of bold geometric abstraction consistent with the reverse types of Kyzikenian staters of this period. |
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| Mint | Kyzikos Mint |
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| Additional information |
Kyzikos, the Propontic city on the southern shore of the Marmara, dominated electrum coinage in the eastern Aegean for well over a century, and these staters functioned as the primary international trade currency across the Greek world before Athens established silver supremacy. The city's electrum was alloyed to a remarkably consistent standard — a deliberate policy that gave Kyzikenoi staters a trusted exchange rate from the Black Sea grain ports to the treasuries of mainland poleis.
The tuna on the reverse — the city's civic badge — appears on virtually every issue, while the obverse type rotated through hundreds of distinct designs across the series, making attribution to a specific subtype the central challenge for collectors. Von Fritze's typology, cross-referenced here against Greenwell and the Rosen collection, remains the essential framework.