Cyzicus began to issue coins during the second half of the 6th century BC and over the next 200 years produced more than 200 different types. The town thus changed it's coin design at least once a year.
All of the Cyzicus coins, however, bore the town's emblem, a tuna fish. The rest of the images seem often to have been inspired by the coins from other cities, such as the ones from Athens, and from more distant towns like Tarentum in Southern Italy or Syracuse and Gela on Sicily. This stater features the head of Soteira on its obverse, while the reverse depicts a lion's head atop the tuna fish mentioned above.