ASIA MINOR. Uncertain mint. Circa 520 BC. Drachm (Silver, 13 mm, 3.54 g). Bearded Siren, with spread wings, standing to left. Rev. Irregular rectangular incuse. Apparently unpublished and unknown. Probably unique, and with an extraordinary obverse type of great interest. Toned. Some minor marks, otherwise, good very fine.

From the Collection of Jonathan H. Kagan, apparently acquired from a German dealer in around 2000.

This obverse type - a bearded, male siren - is unique on coins, but it is known from representations in other media. For example: there are two bearded sirens on a Middle Corinthian plate by the Chimaera Painter and dating to c. 580-570 BC, in Princeton (y1989-25); an impressive bearded siren appears on another plate, also probably by the Chimaera Painter and dating to 580-570 BC, in the Louvre (CA1629); another two appear on a Corinthian aryballos, dating to c. 600-575 BC and by the Otterlo Painter, in Harvard (1950:162); and there is also a mid 6th century BC Boeotian terracotta statuette of a bearded in Budapest (T.34). Thus, our piece is slightly later than those painted examples, but it is quite close in date and style with the terracotta from Boeotia. The real question concerns where this coin was minted, especially since a bearded siren must have a real meaning for the issuer.