Elemetal 2 oz Silver Siren Ultra High Relief Round

The reverse of each 2 oz Ultra High Relief Round features a Siren, a mythological creature that is half woman and endowed with beauty and an enchanting voice. The Siren gazes upon a drifting pirate ship as waves roar throughout the sea, crashing into the rocks beneath her.

Many tales of the Siren exist in Greek mythology, including Homer’s “Odyssey.” While her appearance was striking to sailors, it was the Siren’s alluring and melodious songs that were irresistibly sweet, causing boats to crash on the rocks the Sirens were perched upon. If the seafarers were unable to resist their euphoric tones, a harrowing outcome awaited – oftentimes a gruesome death.

Some stories suggest that a Siren was capable of shedding her lower, mermaid-like body to look fully human and become more tempting to mariners. The earliest depictions of the Siren showed her as part woman, part bird. Depictions of the Siren after the 16th Century, however, show the upper body of a beautiful woman with the tail of a fish.

The common obverse of the Privateer Series depicts a human skull above a ship’s wooden wheel. A tattered rope winds through the wheel completing the design that is encircled by inscriptions of “NO PREY NO PAY” and “2 oz. FINE SILVER .999.”