Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3061 7-8 Jan 2018
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Ancients
MYSIA. Cyzicus. Ca. 550-450 BC. EL stater (20mm, 16.04 gm). NGC Choice VF 4/5 - 4/5. Harpy standing left, with woman's head and birdlike body, holding tunny fish by its tail / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 74. Greenwell 97. BMFA 1441. Nicely centered on an oval flan. Very rare depiction of the mythical Harpy!
In the menagerie of mythical Greek beasts, Harpies are half-bird, half-woman, with an eagle's talons and harsh screeches, sent by the gods to torment men who had displeased them. A few ancient poets, including Hesiod, describe them as fair of face and fleet on the wing, but to most writers they are hideous creatures whom no human would care to encounter. Virgil describes them thus: "Bird-bodied, girl-faced things they are; abominable their droppings, their hands are talons, their faces haggard with hunger insatiable."
HID02901242017
Estimate: 5000-7000 USD
MYSIA. Cyzicus. Ca. 550-450 BC. EL stater (20mm, 16.04 gm). NGC Choice VF 4/5 - 4/5. Harpy standing left, with woman's head and birdlike body, holding tunny fish by its tail / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 74. Greenwell 97. BMFA 1441. Nicely centered on an oval flan. Very rare depiction of the mythical Harpy!
In the menagerie of mythical Greek beasts, Harpies are half-bird, half-woman, with an eagle's talons and harsh screeches, sent by the gods to torment men who had displeased them. A few ancient poets, including Hesiod, describe them as fair of face and fleet on the wing, but to most writers they are hideous creatures whom no human would care to encounter. Virgil describes them thus: "Bird-bodied, girl-faced things they are; abominable their droppings, their hands are talons, their faces haggard with hunger insatiable."
HID02901242017
Estimate: 5000-7000 USD