Ave!

Troas, Gergis, Sibyl with Sphinx reverse!

Æ; 11mm/1.6gm    Struck ca. 4th Cent. BC

Con/ Crisp strikes with fresh dies, both sides in very high relief, and amazingly well preserved for the issue. The representation of the sibyl is fantastic and, the image of the sphinx is so sharp, you can see his eyes, nose, lips and chin. After appropriate cleaning, Extremely Fine. 

Obv/ Laureate head of the Sibyl Herophile facing slightly right.

Rev/ Sphinx seated right, ΓΕΡ before.

Ref/ SNG Ashmolean 1147; SNG Copenhagen 337. 

Seller's Note/ Herophile was the daughter of Apollo, or of Zeus and Lamia, or of Ketophagos and an Idaic nymph. According to Kerenyi she was the oldest and one of the most famous of all sibyls. She lived at the time when Troy was destroyed and she was the priestess of the Smintheum, the sanctuary of Apollo Smintheus. There she had predicted the destruction of Troy.

Troas, Gergis was an ancient city located Anatolia, modern Turkey.