Oddly Harnessed Biga

I recently purchased this Cotta example of a Biga being drawn by Centaurs to add to my other oddly harnessed Bigas. It's a bit beat up, but I do not see many of these on the market:

M. AURELIUS COTTA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Head of Roma, COTA below, X behind
REVERSE: Hercules holding club in biga of centaurs holding branches. M.AVRELI below, ROMA in ex
Struck at Rome 139 BC
4.29g, 16mm
Aurelia 16, BMC.914, Craw.229/1
ex. Pliego Numismatics

Some of my other odd harness teams:

C RENIUS
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Helmeted head of Roma right, X behind
REVERSE: Juno Capriotina in biga of goats right, C RENI below goats, ROMA in ex
Struck at Rome 138 BC
3.6g, 16mm
Cr231/1, Syd 432

L JULIUS CAESAR ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS JULIA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: CAESAR Head of Mars left in crested helmet
REVERSE: Venus Genettris with scepter, in biga drawn by two Cupids left, lyre in field, contolmark above, L IVLI L F in ex.
Struck at Rome, 103BC
3.85g, 17mm
Cr320/1, Syd 593a.

M. VOLTEIUS M.F. ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS VOLTEIA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Head of Bacchus or Liber right, wreathed with ivy
REVERSE: Ceres holding two torches, in biga of serpents right. Symbol in left field (double headed axe)
Rome 76BC
3.75g, 18mm
Volteia 3; Cr385/3; Sear 314

M. VOLTEIUS M.F. ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS VOLTEIA
AR Fouree Denarius
OBVERSE: Laureate & helmeted bust of Attis right; shield behind
REVERSE: Cybele seated right in biga drawn by two lions; OQ above
Rome 78BC
2.9g, 18mm
Cr385/4; Syd 777, Volteia 4

Please post your biga's being pulled along by odd creatures. Who knows? you may post one I will need to find for my chariot teams.

 

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That's a fun and interesting collecting theme, I like it
And your last addition is no exception, congrats

I'm so sorry my bigas are just horses (very traditional)

Q

 

Is the Cotta a fourree? It looks like it might be.

I tried to pick up a couple of new additions for my Alternate Modes of Transportation set in the recent Aureo & Calico auction (a snake biga and a lion biga). I was completely smoked, not surprisingly. There were some amazing coins in that auction!

Okie dokie

Hippocamp biga:

ROMAN REPUBLIC, Moneyer Q. Crepereius M.f. Rocus
69 BCE (revised from Crawford's 72 BCE)
AR serrate denarius; 3.99 gm
Obv: draped bust of Amphitrite seen from behind, with head turned r.; behind, sea anemone; horizontal I to right of right shoulder (only partly visible on this coin)
Rev: Neptune in biga of hippocamps right, holding reins and brandishing trident; above, I and below, Q·CREPER·M·F / ROCVS
Ref: Crawford 399/1b; Babelon Crepereia 1. Sydenham 796a. Rare.
from HJB BBS 200, October 2016
ex NAC 78 lot 1828, from the JD Collection of Roman Republican Coins

Centaur biga:


EGYPT, Alexandria. Domitian
RY 14 (CE 94/5)
Æ drachm, 36 mm, 25.42 gm
Obv: Laureate head right
Rev: The Emperor driving biga of centaurs right., raising hand and holding scepter and reins; in exergue, L IΔ
Ref: Dattari-Savio Pl. 17, 453 (this coin); Geissen 406 (this coin cited); RPC 2704 (this coin cited)
ex Dattari collection (Giovanni Dattari, 1858-1923)


ROMAN REPUBLIC, M. Aurelius Cotta
139 BCE
AR Denarius, 20 mm, ? gm (can't find my scale right at the moment )
Obv: helmeted head of Roma right; X (mark of value) behind; COTA before; dotted border
Rev: Hercules carrying a club, driving biga of centaurs right; centaurs each carrying a branch; M·AVRELI (AVR is ligate); in exergue, ROMA; line border
Ref: Crawford 229/1b; Sydenham 429; Aurelia 16
formerly slabbed, NGC bulk submission holder, "VF"

Cupid biga (one of my favorite coins):


Roman Republic
moneyer L. Julius L. f. Caesar, 103 BC
AR denarius, 17mm, 3.9 gm
Obv: Helmeted head of Mars left; CAESAR; ・C (retrograde)
Rev: Venus Genetrix in chariot left, drawn by two Cupids; lyre to left; ・C (retrograde) above
Ref: Crawford 320/1
ex RBW Collection




Goat biga:


Roman Republic fourée mule denarius
L. Antestius Gragulus, 136 BCE, and C. Renius, 138 BCE
ancient forgery, 3.18 gm
Obv: Roma helmeted head right, * below chin, GRAG behind
Rev: Juno Caprotina in a biga of goats, C・RENI below, ROMA in exergue
Ref: Obverse S.115, Cr.238/1, Syd.451, RSC Antestia 9; Reverse S.108, Cr.231/1, Syd.432, RSc Renia 1

Hippocamp quadriga:


PHOENICIA, Berytos
1st century BCE
Æ19.5, 5.9 gm
Obv: Turreted head of Tyche right
Rev: Poseidon standing left in quadriga drawn by four hippocamps Ref: SNG Copenhagen 83

Winged serpent bigas:


EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius
year 14, CE 150/1
AE drachm, 34 mm, 28.8 gm
Obv: Laureate bust of Antoninus Pius left
Rev: Triptolemos driving biga of winged serpents right; L IΔ above
Ref: Emmett 1683.14

This one is hard to make out, but that's Triptolemos sitting on a wheelchair-ish biga drawn by serpents:

ATTICA, Athens. Eleusis mint
Eleusinian festival coinage
340-335 BC
AE16
Obv: Triptolemos, seated left in a winged chariot drawn by two snakes
Rev: Pig standing right on mystic staff, bucranium below
Ref: SNG Cop 415

 

I don't believe it is. The green you see in the image is from the green clay I use to prop the coins for photography.

 

At least you've got bigas @Cucumbor. I've just got two dudes on horses!



L. Cupennius Castor and Pollux Dioscuri 147 BC

Love the examples pictured here @Bing and @TIF

 

Wow great stuff @TIF - I'm super impressed!

 

WoWiE @Bing! Just humbled by your and @TIF's bigga collection. All of those are on my hit list...but not acquired yet. I did recently pick up a bigga in the last @Savoca auction that is pretty saweet!
Decimius Flavus. 150 BC. AR Denarius (17.8mm, 3.46 g, 5h). Rome mint. Helmeted head of Roma right; X (mark of value) to left / Diana Lucifera driving galloping biga right, holding reins and whip; FLAVS below, ROMA in partial tablet in exergue. Crawford 207/1;

 

@Bing Wow, I LOVE these!

 

Man, I wish I had a weird biga, that is still on the list. That centaur big is awesome though @Bing !

 

Fun thread!!!

I never let an opportunity pass to show my LION QUADRIGA! I'll have to admit, though, in this thread with many mythological beasts pulling chariots, lions seem downright ordinary.


Julia Domna, AD 193-217.
Roman AR denarius, 3.30 g, 19 mm, 6 h.
Rome, 21st emission, AD 205.
Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: MATER AVGG, Julia Domna, as Cybele, seated left in quadriga of lions and holding branch in her right hand.
Refs: RIC 562; BMCRE 48; Cohen/RSC 117; RCV 6592; Hill 759; CRE 354.

 

My "traditional" bigas :


L. Flaminius Chilo



L. Procilius L.F.

Q

 

Sasly, I do not have any bigas, trigas, nor quadrigas.

 

You're chariotly challenged

Q

 

My special forces bigati. We start with the usual goats of
renia 1, as others have shown:


Next are a couple of stags from an anonymous issuer (Crawford 422):



And last, but my no means least, a biga of elephants (Caecilius 14):


Okay, nothing from fantasy, but not your everyday bigati either.

 

STAGS:

RR Allius Bala 92 BCE AR Den Diana Biga Stags Sear 221 Craw336-1 scarce


GOATS:

RR C Renius AR Denarius 18mm 3.8g Roma 138 BC Helmeted hd Roma r X - C RENI ROMA Juno driving biga goats r whip reins scepter Cr 231-1


Oh, and you will like THIS on celebrating Marius' victories...

RR Lucilius Rufus 101 BCE Ar Den Roma Biga Marius Victories S 202 Cr 324-1

 

Thats pretty neat

 

My guess is that the Romans had a manual "Harnessing for Dummies", which covered a wide range of creatures, from centaurs, to horses, to mules, to wart hogs....

 

The one example that I have readily available is a chariot drawn by two serpents, on the reverse, to the right of the owl, of this new style tetradrachm of Athens.

Don't ask me about the harnessing.

16.91 grams