Kyzikos (BC 550-500) EL Hekte

ca 550-500 BC. EL Hekte (2.69g, 10.5mm). Head of Perseus to left, wearing winged helmet with hair hanging beneath and represented by dots; behind, tunny swimming downwards / Quadripartite incuse square. VF. A rare type with about 20 known. Carr coll.

William Greenwell, in his 1887 tome entitled: The electrum coinage of Cyzicus, notes that the helmet is the helmet of Hades lent to him by the nymphs. The reference by Greenwell is to the ‘mission’ of Perseus to cut-off the head of Medusa. The next coin in the Greenwell listing notes a type where much of the detail of this slaying is depicted – see Coin ID #14069.