Stater

Kyzikos, the Propontine city that dominated electrum coinage for nearly two centuries, struck these staters as a near-universal trade currency across the Greek world. The city's natural access to electrum from Lydian river sources allowed uninterrupted production even as other mints shifted to silver. Each issue carried a different obverse type — Von Fritze catalogued over 200 distinct varieties — making the series one of the most typologically diverse in ancient numismatics.

Greenwell #95 and Von Fritze #166 place this piece within the mature phase of the series. The Kyzikene stater was accepted by weight and reputation rather than political authority, a rare case of commodity trust functioning as monetary infrastructure across competing city-states.