Product Details

The electrum hecte coins of Mytilene on the Isle of Lesbos represent one of the most celebrated and actively collected series in all of ancient Greek numismatics, their extraordinary artistic variety, exceptional die engraving quality, and direct connection to one of the ancient Aegean’s most culturally sophisticated cities combining to make them among the most sought after and consistently appreciated small denomination coins the ancient world produced. This Mytilene Electrum Hecte has a Choice Very Fine grade from the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), including 3/5 grades for the strike and surface. Now, Isle of Lesbos Mytilene Electrum Hecte Coins are available online from Bullion Metals.

Coin arrives in an individual plastic slab!Produced in Mytilene in the Isle of Lesbos!Struck in the early 4th century BC!3/5 strike and surface grades!Contains 2.54 grams of gold-silver alloy.Issued a grade of Choice Very Fine by the NGC.On the obverse is a portrait of Demeter.The reverse depicts a tripod.

Coin arrives in an individual plastic slab!

Produced in Mytilene in the Isle of Lesbos!

Struck in the early 4th century BC!

Contains 2.54 grams of gold-silver alloy.

Issued a grade of Choice Very Fine by the NGC.

On the obverse is a portrait of Demeter.

These Isle of Lesbos Mytilene Electrum Hecte Coins come in Choice Very Fine condition, meaning the coins are among the finest examples of a Very Fine specimen. With 3/5 grades for both the strike and surface conditions, this coin has an above-average strike with good details still visible, while the surfaces show only moderate signs of wear and tear from handling.

On the obverse of the Mytilene Electrum Hecte Coin, you will find a left-profile bust of Demeter, while the reverse features a simple tripod design. Overall, The hecte coins of Mytilene from this period present obverse types of exceptional refinement and creative diversity, their portrait heads of gods, heroes, and mythological figures executed with the luminous precision and expressive humanity of the finest late classical Greek die engraving in a miniaturist format that demands extraordinary skill and concentration from the artist working within the hecte’s tiny circular field.

The electrum hecte coins struck at Mytilene between approximately 377 and 326 BC were produced during a period of renewed political confidence and cultural vitality for the city, following the liberation of the Lesbian cities from Persian-backed tyranny and encompassing the complex decades of the rise of Macedon and Alexander’s transformative conquests that reshaped the entire Greek world.