Gemini III, January 9th, 2007



                  Lot # 172Estimate: US$5000
                  EARLY ELECTRUM COINAGE. Electrum hecte 



             



            EARLY ELECTRUM COINAGE. Late seventh–early sixth century BC. 
            Electrum hecte (2.74 gm). Siren standing left, with body of bird and 
            human head wearing cap with long “curl” / Square incuse with 
            irregular raised projections. Apparently unpublished in the major 
            works of reference, but see Naville VII, 1924 (Bement Collection), 
            lot 1435 which shares the same obverse die as the present specimen, 
            but on which the obverse device is incorrectly identified as a cock. 
            Exceptional mythological type. Beautifully centered. Extremely fine. 


            The sirens were songstresses of the sea, whose seductive arias lured 
            sailors to their deaths. In myth, Odysseus escaped this fate by 
            plugging the ears of his companions and listening while tied to the 
            mast of his ship, while Orpheus saved the Argonauts by competing 
            with his own divine songs. Odysseus’ encounter with the sirens was 
            later associated with the Straits of Messina, but this cannot help 
            to identify the mint of our hecte. All that can be said is that the 
            type implies a coastal mint in western Asia Minor. 






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  ... Lot 172 sold for high bid of $6250 [ $7187.5, or approx 5555.9375 EUR, 3665.625 GBP including the 15% buyers fee.] 


Re-used by permission of Harlan J Berk (www.harlanjberk.com) and
                         Freeman & Sear (www.freemanandsear.com)