CYZICUS ELECTRUM STATER – SIREN/HARPY ISSUE – CHOICE VF NGC GRADED GREEK MYSIA COIN (Inv. 20831)

$4,250.00

20831. MYSIA, CYZICUS. Ca. 550-500 BC.
Electrum Stater, 16.13 g, 18 mm.
Obv. Siren or harpy standing left, holding tunny downward, floral tendrils in her hair. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square.
Greenwell 97, SNG France 5, 203-204, BMFA 1441.
NGC graded CHOICE VF, Strike 4/5, Surface 4/5, well centered, with an expressive Siren.

The mythical creature depicted on this rare Cyzicene stater has been variously described as a harpy or a siren, both of which were understood by the Greeks to be half-bird and half-woman. Harpies served the Erinyes (Greek goddesses of vengeance) by tormenting evildoers with their shrill cries, the stench of their droppings, and by stealing their food. Jason and the Argonauts saved the blind seer Phineas from punishment by the harpies. In contrast, the sirens were the offspring of the river-god Alpheus who sang beautiful, hypnotic songs to lure sailors to their deaths on sharp rocks. Odysseus famously prevented the loss of his ship and crew to the sirens’ song by advising his men to stuff their ears with beeswax and to tie him to the mast.