This was a coin that I purchased to crave my hunger for an elephant denarius Earlier in the year. Although it is not the well known most wanted JC elephant denarius I do enjoy this coin and it’s toning. Post any denarii or elephant ancients you have!
Lovely toning on that one, @NLL ! Here's an elephant: Philip I, AD 244-249. Roman AR Antoninianus, 3.73 g, 22.4 mm, 7 h. Rome, AD 247. Obv: IMP PHILIPPVS AVG, radiate and draped bust, right. Rev: AETERNITAS AVGG, elephant guided by mahout with goad and wand, walking left. Refs: RIC 58; Cohen 17; RCV 8921; Hunter 31.
I like you Caecilius and want one myself! Here is my JC Pachyderm, and another from Etruria (people whom were the first Kings of Rome) JC PACHYDERM RR Julius Caesar AR Denarius 49 BCE Traveling Mint Elephant-Pontificates Sear 1399 Craw 443-1 ETRURIA Etruria 3rd C BCE AE Quartuncia 18mm 4.76g Head of African r Elephant r letter below, bell under neck SNG COP 48 HNI 69 SNG Paris 138-140 SNG Morcom 44 R
That is a good looking elephant! FFIVN and I have 2 elephants in our collection: Julius Caesar 49-48 BC AR Denarius Obverse: CAESAR in exergue, elephant right, trampling on serpent Reverse: Simpulum, sprinkler, axe and priest's hat Apollodotos I. c174-165 BC. AR Drachm of Indian weight standard. Obverse: Elephant standing right; monogram below Reverse: Zebu bull standing right; monogram below
Lovely coin!...The depiction of the stork is nice aswell!... Here's my ele with a lion . Shahis of Ohind AE Jital of Vakka Deva around 870 AD 18mm and 1.9 grams. Obv. Elephant facing left with the name "Sri Vakka Deva" above in Nagari. Rev. Lion to the right with gaping mouth, tongue out and one front paw raised. Diamond symbol in the rump.
Yeah, short attribution, I left off the Bell. ETRURIA, Arretium (?). The Chiana Valley. Circa 208-207 BC. Æ Quartunica . Head of African right; monogram to left / Indian elephant standing right, bell around neck; monogram below. HN Italy 69; SNG ANS 41 (same obv. die); SNG Copenhagen 48 var. (no monogram on obv.). rare. This enigmatic issue has been much discussed. It was Sestini in 1816 who first indicated their area of circulation in and around the Chiana (Clanis) valley and lake Trasimeno, dominated by the cities of Arezzo, Chiusi and Cortona. The traditional attribution of the issue to 217 BC, as representing the propaganda of Hannibal’s approach to Etruria, was modified by Robinson (op. cit.), who saw it as a provocative seditious type of Arretium, which was in a state of high tension with Rome in 209/8, in the hoped for arrival of Hasdrubal from Spain with reinforcements. However, the reverse depicts an Indian rather than African elephant with a bell around its neck reminiscent of the elephant/saw aes signatum issue (Crawford 9/1) of about 250-240 BC and associated with the battle of Maleventum (soon to be called Beneventum) in 275 BC when the captured elephants of Pyrrhus were brought to Rome in triumph. A similar Indian elephant is also depicted as a symbol on the Tarantine nomos issue (Vlasto 710-712), indicating the presence of Pyrrhus in the city in 282-276. The Barcid coinage of New Carthage (Villaronga CNH, pg. 65, 12-15) and that of Hannibal in Sicily (SNG Cop. 382) clearly depict African elephants belonging to the elephant corps from about 220 BC. As Maria Baglione points out in "Su alcune parallele di bronzo coniato," Atti Napoli 1975, pg.153-180, the African/elephant issue shares control marks with other cast and struck Etruscan coins of the region, she quotes Panvini Rosati in ‘ Annuario dell’accademia Etrusca di Cortona XII’, 1964, pg. 167ff., who suggests the type is to be seen as a moneyer’s badge or commemorative issue in the style of Caesar’s elephant/sacrificial implements issue of 49/48 BC (Crawford 443/1). The elephant, an attribute of Mercury/Turms, is an emblem of wisdom and is also a symbol of strength and of the overcoming of evil
Great coin @NLL. Below is my JC elephant denarius. Hopefully you will be able to add a JC elephant to your collection one day.
Nice coin, @NLL ! I love pretty much all pachyderms and the coins depicting them. The Q. Caecilius Metellus denarius is especially interesting insofar as according to a very sensible interpretation proposed by @Severus Alexander , Caesar's better known elephant denarius constitutes a reference to this coin and its iconography. My example is from the last AMCC auction. Roman Republic, imperatorial issue of Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius, AR denarius, 81 BC, Northern Italian mint. Obv: diademed head of Pietas r.; to right, stork standing r. Rev: Q C M P I; elephant standing l., wearing bell around neck. 17mm, 3.55g. Ref: RRC 374/1. Ex JB collection; ex AMCC 2, lot 105 (their picture). Here is my Julius Caesar elephant. Note the many banker's marks. I've seen quite a number of fourrée elephant denarii on the market, indicating that the type was heavily forged. Maybe this explains the heavy testing on my example? Roman Republic, Imperatorial Coinage, Julius Caesar, AR denarius, 49–48 BC, military mint moving with Caesar. Obv: [CA]ESAR; elephant walking r., trampling snake. Rev: priestly implements: culullus, aspergillum, axe, apex. 20mm, 3.70g. Ref: RRC 443/1. An Indian elephant. I have a little theory on the production of these karshapanas. It seems that the dies used to strike them were cast (or maybe struck?), showing the basic design. Details and legends apparently were added to the cast die by engraving. The obverse of this example shows the difference between cast elements (elephant's body, head, and trunk) and engraved elements (legend, elephant's eye, ear, leash?, lip, and tusk) quite clearly: Satavahana Empire, later Satakarni ruler, BI karshapana, ca. 107–248 AD, minted in northern Deccan region. Obv: elephant with raised trunk r., remains of legend. Rev: dynastic symbol. 17mm, 2.58g. Ref: see Mitchiner 4963–4967 (different legends).
TITUS AR Denarius OBVERSE: IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M, laureate head right REVERSE: TRP IX IMP XV COS VIII PP, elephant walking left Struck at Rome, 80 AD 2.5g, 17mm RIC 115 SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS AR Denarius OBVERSE: L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP VIIII, laureate head right REVERSE: MVNIFICENTIA AVG, Elephant wearing cuirass walking right Struck at Rome, 196 197 AD 3.63g, 17mm RIC 100, RSC 349 PHILIP I AE Sestertius OBVERSE: IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, laureate and draped bust right REVERSE: AETERNITAS AVGG, elephant and driver walking left, SC in ex. Struck at Rome, 247-8 AD 20.6g, 28mm RIC 161a
Baktria Apollodotos I 180-160 BCE Square AR Drachm 20mm 2.4g Elephant Zebu SNG ANS 324-327 Ex: @Sallent
