Centaur and Gallienus with a neck-beard. It doesn't get better than this!

New acquisition. The dealer lowered his asking price and I couldn't resist. Post your centaurs, Gallienus issues, whatever you feel is relevant!


Gallienus, AD 253-268
Roman AE Antoninianus; 19 mm, 2.7 g.
Rome, AD 267-268
Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right
Rev: APOLLINI CONS AVG, Centaur walking left, holding globe and trophy*; H(?) in exergue
Refs: RIC 164; Cohen 73; RCV 10178

*RIC calls this object a trophy; Sear calls it a rudder; Cohen calls it arrows.

 

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Cool reverse.

One could build a lovely set of coins just on Gallienus alone. I see many "rare" reverses posted on VC, but the price attached makes you go .

 

Fantastic Gallienus / Centaur, Congrats!! Mine is not as nice, but here it is:

 

Cool centaur, especially if you got it at the right price. I got that one a month ago. Not the best ever but at a bargain price


Gallienus, Antoninianus Rome mint, 7th officina, AD 267-268
GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right
APOLLINI CONS AVG, Centaur walking right, drawing bow. Z at exergue
2.41 gr
Ref : Cohen # 72, RCV # 10177, Göbl # 735b, RIC # 163

Q

 

One of the best I've seen @Roman Collector

 

Mine does not help resolve the issue:

I can't tell what it is supposed to be.

 

Yours DOES resolve the issue--it's clearly bagpipes depicted on your coin!

 

Cool posts!!!

Here's mine----(a trophy?):

 

Neither does mine.

 

Let me toss out the idea that the centaur on the reverse of these types is the most famous centaur, Chiron, and that he's holding a lyre. The Roman appropriation of Chiron included making him a great teacher, with many renowned pupils including Asclepius, Aristaeus, Ajax, Aeneas, Actaeon, Caeneus, Theseus, Achilles, Jason, Peleus, Telamon, Perseus, sometimes Heracles, Oileus, Phoenix, and in one Byzantine tradition, even Dionysus. Here he is in a 1st century fresco from Herculaneum, teaching Achilles how to play the lyre...

 

Another idea: a tree branch. It seems they are often depicted carrying one, at least on vases. (The story is they fought with branches and rocks.)

 

A nice one!

 

Nice Gallienus ants.
My centaur

 

Interesting coin. Here is my only coin of Gallienus.

Egypt, Alexandria. Dattari. Gallienus, 253-268 Tetradrachm circa 267-268 (year 15), billon 23mm., 9.51g. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev. Eagle standing l., holding wreath in beak; behind, palm. Geissen 2944. Dattari-Savio Pl. 273, 10547. Extremely Fine. From the Dattari collection.

Naville Numismatics 29 February 26 2017 Lot # 438

 

Great examples, everyone! Thanks!

I'm intrigued by @John Anthony 's theory:

The inscription APOLLINI CONSERVATORI AVGVSTI (to Apollo, the preserver of the emperor) suggests this particular centaur is Chiron, the tutor of Apollo, who was the first to teach Apollo the medicinal use of herbs.

On the other hand, I'm not so sure this has to be the case, because the same APOLLINI CONS AVG inscription is found on antoniniani of Gallienus depicting a gryphon and Pegasus, too, and their connection to Apollo seems more tenuous.



I think the presence of the globe is significant in terms of iconography. The idea of a rudder being used to steer the outcome of the world is not infrequently used on coins (I'm thinking of Fortuna or Tyche), such as this:


Elagabalus, AD 218-222
Roman AR Antoninianus; 5.17 g, 21.3 mm
Rome, AD 219
Obv: IMP ANTONINVS AVG, radiate and draped bust, right
Rev: P M TR PII COSII P P, Fortuna enthroned left, holding rudder on globe and cornucopiae; wheel below seat
Refs: RIC 18; BMCRE 94; Cohen 148; RCV 7495

Or this one depicting Aeternitas with globe and rudder:


Faustina Sr, AD 138-141
Roman AR denarius; 3.83 g, 18.2 mm
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, draped bust, right
Rev: AETERNITAS, Fortuna standing left, holding globe and rudder
Refs: RIC 348; BMCRE 360; Cohen 6; RCV 4577

Or this one depicting Tyche with rudder set on globe:


Julia Domna, AD 193-211
Roman provincial AE 29.5 mm, 14.48 g
Thrace, Pautalia, AD 193-211
Obv: ΙΟΥΛΙΑ ΔΟΜΝΑ CΕΒΑ, bare-headed and draped bust, right
Rev: ΟΥΛΠΙΑC ΠΑΥΤΑΛΙΑC, Tyche with kalathos standing left, with rudder on globe and cornucopiae
Refs: Ruzicka 467; Moushmov 4230

So, a globe and rudder are commonly found together and probably serves as an allegory of Gallienus steering the state.

And, especially on Gogili's example, the thing does look like a rudder, such as on this denarius of Hadrian (Imagine the rudder upside down):


Hadrian, AD 117-138
Roman AR denarius; 3.44 g, 17.5 mm, 7:00
Rome, AD 121
Obv: IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG, laureate bust right, slight drapery on far shoulder
Rev: P M TR P COS III, Fortuna standing left, holding rudder and cornucopiae and resting on column
Refs: RIC 86b; BMCRE 170; RSC 1155; UCR 206; RCV 3521

So, intriguing as the lyre theory is, I'm going with the rudder theory.

 

Nice! Great neck-beard on this one!

 

My only Centaur:

The Frentani were part of the Samnite peoples who were tough Mountain people that were adversaries of the Early Romans...


Frentani - Larinum AE 18mm Quadrans 210-175 BCE Herakles - Centaur SNG COP 272

 

this was my first thought as well, really looks like that on doug's coin especially.

that's a sweet version of the type RC...whatever the heck that thing is.

 

Reviving this old because I have this fun new Centaur and it shows what he's holding nicely.

It looks to be a rudder. A rudder and globe seem to make the most sense together rather than arrows or a lyre.