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Stater
| Issuer | Kyzikos (Mysia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 450 BC - 350 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Stater (1) |
| 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 |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| 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) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Quadripartite incuse square divided by raised ridges into four recessed compartments, alternating in a windmill or checkerboard pattern with two deeply sunken and two shallower fields. The incuse punch is boldly impressed and sharply defined, characteristic of the hammered technique employed in early Greek electrum coinage. No legend or subsidiary device is present. The surface within the compartments displays the natural granularity of the struck electrum flan. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Kyzikos (Mysia) |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Kyzikos dominated the electrum trade coinage of the fifth and fourth centuries with a consistency unmatched by any other Greek mint — the same reverse type repeated across hundreds of obverse designs, each apparently issued in small numbers before the dies were retired. The city's position on the Propontis made it the natural clearing house for Black Sea commerce, and Kyzikenoi, as these staters were known, circulated far beyond Mysia: Athenian banking records and treasure hoards from the Crimea to Egypt attest to their acceptance as a near-universal mercantile currency.
No two obverse types are identical in this series. That variety was almost certainly deliberate — possibly tied to issuing magistrates or trading seasons rather than dynastic change.