Product Details

The electrum hecte coins of the Isle of Lesbos are among the most artistically distinguished and historically significant small denomination coins of the ancient Greek world, produced in the naturally occurring gold-silver alloy that was among the first metals used for coinage anywhere in antiquity and carrying designs of extraordinary refinement and creative ambition that belie their modest size. This Electrum Hecte from Mytilene on the Isle of Lesbos is in Extremely Fine condition, according to the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), and comes with 3/5 grades for strike and surface. Now, the Isle of Lesbos Mytilene EL Hecte Coin is available online from Bullion Metals.

Coin arrives in an individual protective slab!Struck between 412 and 378 BC!Issued in Mytilene, Isle of Lesbos!3/5 strike!3/5 surface!Contains 2.52 grams of gold-silver alloy.Bears a grade of Very Fine from the NGC.Obverse features Athena.Reverse includes Artemis.

Coin arrives in an individual protective slab!

Issued in Mytilene, Isle of Lesbos!

Contains 2.52 grams of gold-silver alloy.

Bears a grade of Very Fine from the NGC.

This Isle of Lesbos Mytilene EL Hecte Coin is in Very Fine condition with 3/5 grades for both the strike and surface. Coins with a 3/5 grade for strike have crisp, well-struck design elements that have minimal wear present, while the 3/5 surface grade indicates a coin with modest remaining visual elements. The coin has visible, moderate signs of wear and tear.

In the design of the Mytilene EL Hecte Coin, features portraits of Athena and Artemis on the obverse and reverse, respectively. Coins from Mytilene are justly celebrated for the extraordinary variety and exceptional quality of their obverse designs, which present an ever-changing parade of divine heads, mythological figures, and portrait types executed in miniature with a delicacy, precision, and expressive power that represent ancient die engraving at its most refined and technically accomplished.

The electrum hecte coins struck at Mytilene on Lesbos between approximately 412 and 378 BC were produced during a period of intense political and military activity in the eastern Aegean, encompassing the final turbulent decades of the Peloponnesian War, the complex maneuvering of the subsequent Corinthian War, and the diplomatic revolution of the King’s Peace of 387 BC that placed the Greek cities of Asia Minor under nominal Persian sovereignty.