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Stater
| Issuer | Kyzikos (Mysia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 550 BC - 475 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 |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A quadripartite incuse square of mill-sail (windmill) type, divided into four recessed compartments of alternating depth by two intersecting raised ridges meeting at the centre, creating a symmetrical cross-like pattern. This deeply impressed reverse punch is the hallmark of early Greek hammered coinage and is consistent across the Kyzikene electrum series. The irregular, slightly raised border of the flan is visible around the incuse square. |
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| Mint | Cyzicus, modern-day Kapıdağ Peninsula, Turkey |
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| Additional information |
Kyzikos was among the ancient world's most prolific issuers of electrum coinage, and its staters circulated far beyond the Propontis region — finds have turned up across the Black Sea littoral, into Thrace, and as far as the Levantine coast. The city's position controlling trade routes into the Black Sea made its coinage a de facto commercial currency for that entire zone, accepted on the strength of Kyzikene reputation rather than any political authority enforcing it.
The natural electrum alloy used here derives from regional sources with a gold-to-silver ratio that varies measurably across the series, a detail that has allowed modern metallurgical analysis to sequence production groups with more precision than typology alone permits.