Many members here have great examples... I do not.. but my $3.33 centaur is still one of my favorite coins:
Heck of a deal! I've got some type of feline from his zoo series-- a tigress, I think. Gallienus, sole reign CE 260-268 Antoninianus, Rome mint Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right Rev: LIBERO P CONS AVG, striped tigress standing left; B in exergue Ref: RIC V 230 (Sole reign)
Nary one from The G-man, but a a zoo specimen from his wife: RI Salonina wife of Gallienus 254-268 CE AE Ant 3.61g 20mm Rome mint 267-268 CE crescent Deer Walking delta RIC V 16
TIF has the lovely one. Whether they are tigers, panthers or other cats, I can not say. Very few show any body details like hers. A couple years ago I sorted my coins and sold off a number of things I had in duplicate or felt I had outgrown. Just before mailing them off to JA for his sales, I retrieved this one when I noted that it was one of the two coins I got years ago ex John Quincy Adams collection. I would have felt bad had I sold it by accident. The coin has relatively little wear but is terribly weakly struck to the point that the centers of both sides failed to smooth out the blank flan texture. I paid $11 long ago which was at the time very high for a coin this ugly but I wanted the Presidential provenance. The JQA collection was auctioned in 1971 when the Massachusetts Historical Society decided they did not need evidence of his interest in something as un-American as ancient coins. The collection contained many coins worse (and better) with few illustrated in the catalog. My tag from the sale gives the correct lot number but, without photos, there really is no way of telling that my coin actually is the one sold on that day. I would love to have one of the lots illustrated in the catalog.
Here's my panther: Gallienus, 253-268 AD. Roman Æ Antoninianus, 2.65 g, 20.1 mm, 5 h. Rome Mint, 10th emission, 267-268 AD. Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right. Rev: LIBERO P CONS AVG, panther walking left, B in exergue. Refs: RIC 230K; Göbl 713b; Cohen 586; RCV 10281; Hunter 112.
We set up a Gallienus Panther Club a couple of years ago. I think Doug was made President on account of his ex Presidential collection coin. Anyway, welcome! I have another, but here's the fantastic upgrade I received from my Secret ̶S̶a̶n̶t̶a̶ Saturn last year.
We are coin twins! That’s the one I got in an uncleaned lot. Clearly yours is much better looking than mine
Clavdivs showed one example of a mythological animal included in the zoo. Lets show a few others. Gryphon Centaur with globe and lyre Hippocamp All 'zoo series' coins have a legend honoring one of the gods whose name is followed by CONS AVG. The hippocamp reads 'to Neptune, savior of Augustus'. There are other animal reverse coins of Gallienus that, technically, are not part of the 'zoo' since they do not use the zoo legend convention. Lion with dated legend The wolf and twins (AETERNITAS AVG) type seems to be harder to find in good shape.
Kasia, got a nice picture of a bespectacled Panther, at Gallienus Zoo, with his learning hat on. Photo of the Week !!!
