Their hectai had much in common with the electrum of Cyzicus because they did not have “standard” designs but were constantly introducing new ones. We are fortunate that a copy of their contract survives, as it clearly states the terms. it came to an agreement with Mytilene by which they shared the minting of hectai, issuing them in alternating years. Though Phocaea had issued hectai since the late seventh or early sixth century B.C., in about 521 B.C. The two other important issuers of electrum in Asia Minor were Phocaea and Mytilene, which issued very large quantities of an electrum one-sixth stater, called a hecte. However, that hardly mattered since their appearance was so distinctive and the city badge, a tuna (“tunny”) fish, was incorporated into all of the designs. One exception aside, these coins also had no inscription that identified Cyzicus as the issuing authority. This coinage was remarkable in that it did not have a standard design, but instead was host to hundreds of different designs that usually were distinctive, and often were of great artistic merit. The head of the Greek god Zeus is paired with a snack shown in a striking pose on thisĮlectrum hecte issued at Mytilene sometime between about 387 and 326 B.C. This coin of about 16 grams was widely accepted in commerce, and in ancient inscriptions it was often referred to by its familiar nickname “Cyzicene.” Although electrum fractional denominations were also produced at Cyzicus, they were for local or regional use, and seldom were exported.Ĭyzicus made a purposefully archaic coinage: the planchets were thick and dumpy and the reverse had no artistic design, just the impression of a simple punch with a roughened surface.Ĭlearly this was the intent of the minters, who recognized that the hard-earned reputation of their “Cyzicenes” might be compromised if they were to modernize too much. The principal trade coin of Cyzicus from the late seventh through the late fourth Century B.C. Its ideal location allowed the city’s merchants to grow wealthy from their near-monopoly on trade between Greece and the distant shores of the Black Sea. The most important issuer of electrum coins in the Greek world was Cyzicus, a wealthy port on the southern shore of the Bosporus, the strait that links the Black Sea with the Aegean. The obverse of this electrum hecte struck at Phocaea between about 387 and 326 B.C. The wreathed head of a young woman with her hair gathered in a cloth saccus graces Remarkably, these cities found economic advantage in using electrum at a time when the rest of the Greek world had largely come to prefer silver or gold. exactly when one might have expected electrum coinage to have died out.Īfter this early period occasional, isolated issues of electrum emerged from a number of mints, which supplemented some extremely large issues from three cities in Asia Minor: Cyzicus, Phocaea and Mytilene. Even so, the period of greatest production for electrum coinage in Asia Minor was from about the 520s to the 320s B.C. it largely had been supplanted by issues of pure gold and pure silver. Though electrum was the exclusive metal for the earliest phase of coinage, by the end of the sixth century B.C. This alloy of gold and silver earned its name from its pale yellow color, which resembled amber, called “electron” in Greek. and made of “white gold” electrum, is well known. The story of the world’s first coins, seemingly introduced in the mid-seventh century B.C. Images courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group.Ĭities still use alloy after switch to pure gold and silver Showing a young man advancing, holding a tunny and a curved knife. COINWORLD | By David Vagi, Special to Coin World | SeptemThis Cyzicus electrum stater of circa 500 to 450 B.C.
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