★ A very rare hekte from Mytilene carrying the ethnic ★

LESBOS. Mytilene. Circa 521-478 BC. Hekte (Gold, 9 mm, 2.57 g, 3 h). Forepart of a bull to left; in field to left, M. Rev. Incuse head of a lion with open jaws to left; behind, rectangular punch. Bodenstedt 1. SNG Copenhagen -. SNG von Aulock 1684. Very rare and exceptionally well preserved. Very light marks on the obverse, otherwise, extremely fine.

From a British collection of electrum coins from Lesbos and Ionia, formed in the early 2000s.

The tiny M below the forepart of the bull on this beautiful hekte marks one of the very few cases where Mytilene's ethnic appears on its electrum coinage.