@Bing, on second thought, it could be either a gazelle or an antelope, both of which have Diana in the reverse legend. If you can find any trace of the Officina number in the exergue, you can tell which it is: if it's a gamma (Officina 3), then it's an antelope. If it's an XI or XII, it's a gazelle.
I looked in hand and under magnification. I may be seeing things, but I think I see a faint shadow of a "gamma". If that is correct then it would be antelope rather than gazelle. I just can't be certain.
Of course, isn't a gazelle technically a kind of antelope in the first place? I'm not sure the Romans were aware of that, though!
I'm not sure that the fourth coin in well identified , I declared it as antelope but I don't see any antlers, if not should be a doe but is not looking backwards. RIC 574 , Siscia mint GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right LIBERO P CONS AVG, Panther walking left, B in ex. RIC 179 left,X , Rome mint GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right DIANAE CONS AVG, Stag walking left, officina mark X below. RIC 181 var Cunetio 1344, Rome mint, sole reign. GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right DIANAE CONS AVG, Antelope walking left. Mintmark: Gamma. RIC 180,X,left IMP GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right DIANAE CONS AVG, antelope walking left. X in ex. RIC 283 var A , Rome mint. Sole reign. GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right SOLI CONS AVG, Pegasus springing right. Officina letter A offset to right of exergue.
A Diana coin from Officina X has to be a stag, not an antelope. The antlers are simply worn away. The Diana antelope coins are from Officina 3.
Are you OK with Salonina zoo coins too? Obv:- CORN SALONINA AVG, diademed draped bust right on crescent Rev:- IVNONI CONS AVG, Bearded elk walking right Minted in Rome (Delta in exe). A.D. 267-268 References:- RIC 14. Cohen 69
@Ryro - here's another Hippocamp for Neptune to add to the zoo a third example of this odd beast Gallienus, Sole reign, 260-268 AD, Antoninianus, Rome mint. Struck 268 AD Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust right Rev: NEPTVNO CONS AVG, hippocamp right; N Ref: RIC V 245; RSC 668 Note: for more info - WEIGEL, R. (1990). Gallienus' 'Animal Series' Coins and Roman Religion. The Numismatic Chronicle (1966-), 150, 135-143. "The coins may have served to announce a major religious festival that both secured protection of the gods and gained popular support with circus games."
I am NOT saying there were no tigers but the first one I saw struck me as a skinny panther with ribs showing. Those with well struck mint state coins see things differently than the rest of us. Were those lines intended to the stripes or just a convention to show a big cat? Opinions on where one animal starts and another ends in cats and hooved stock will vary and some dies suggest the cutter may not have been fully skilled in the ID of the animals. Panther is the obvious answer because of the legend linking Dionysos to his companion animal. Did Dionysos have a tiger, too. Ask him if you see him late some night.
Thanks , I will replace my label. The error is on wildwinds , even the photo is showing a stag: RIC 180,X,left Gallienus Billon Antoninianus. IMP GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right / DIANAE CONS AVG, antelope walking left. X in ex. RSC 163. http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/gallienus/RIC_0180.jpg
I think the Jim Phelps article on Forum (see http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Liber Pater), as well as several of the examples posted in this thread, are extremely persuasive in demonstrating that the "tigress" is, in fact, a tigress, and not simply a skinny panther with ribs showing. In fact, the animals with stripes tend to be considerably more robust, not less, than the ones without stripes, which would make no sense if the intent had been to portray ribs showing. There's an entirely separate question regarding the panther coins that are, in fact, panthers: what animal, exactly, did those coins intend to show? In the New World, in North America, "panther" is simply another synonym for a mountain lion / cougar / puma. Obviously not an animal the Romans knew! In South America, a "black panther" is simply a melanistic jaguar. Also an animal unknown to the Romans. In the Old World in ancient times, as I understand it, a "panther" was another word for a leopard, especially a melanistic leopard, i.e., a black panther. Perhaps that's what the "panther" coins intended to show? If they intended to show an ordinary leopard, why no spots? Ancient artists were clearly capable of portraying a leopard with spots reasonably accurately. See this portrayal from an ancient Greek red-figure bell krater showing Dionysus on the back of a "panther" with spots that's obviously a leopard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysus#/media/File:Dionysos_panther_Louvre_K240.jpg. So perhaps the "panther" on Gallienus's zoo coins was a black panther, i.e., a melanistic leopard.
@Ryro, have you been keeping track of how many different animals from the list have been shown on this thread? Here's the list, supplemented with the name of the deity in the reverse legend, and the number of the Officina, to make the list more useful as a reference guide. I've boldfaced the ones that people have posted in this thread. [Lioness walking left [Apollo, Officina 2] [Forgot to put on my original list]] Centaur walking left holding globe [Apollo, Officinas 4, 7, & 8] Centaur walking right with bow and arrow [Apollo, Officinas 7 & 8] Centaur galloping right, with bow and arrow held up to sky [Apollo, Officina 7] Gryphon walking left [Apollo, Officinas 4 & 8] Gryphon walking right [Apollo, Officina 4] Gryphon seated left [Apollo, Officina 4] Antelope left [Diana, Officinas 3 & 4] Antelope right [Diana, Officina 3] Doe left, head turned back to right [Diana, Officina 5] Doe right, head turned back to left [Diana, Officina 5] Stag left [Diana, Officina 10] Stag right [Diana, Officina 10] Gazelle left [Diana, Officinas 11 & 12] Gazelle right [Diana, Officinas 11 & 12] Lion left [Hercules, Officina 1] Boar right [Hercules, Officina 5] Goat left [Jove, Officina 6] Goat right [Jove, Officinas 4 & 6] Panther left [Liber Pater, Officina 2] Panther right, "rampant" (head facing upwards) [Liber, Officina 2] [Tigress left] [Liber Pater, Officina 2] Criocampus [mythical beast with head and forelimbs of ram, and body and rear of fish] swimming right [Mercury, Officina 8] Hippocamp [head and forelimbs of horse, body and rear of fish] swimming left [Neptune, Officina 9] Hippocamp swimming right [Neptune, Officina 9] Capricorn [head and forelimbs of goat, body and rear of fish] swimming right [Neptune, Officina 6] Pegasus left, rearing up on hind legs [Sol, Officina 1] Pegasus right, rearing up on hind legs [Sol, Officina 1] Bull standing left [Sol, Officina 11] Bull standing right [Sol, Officina 11] Antelope left [Salonina obverse, Juno, Officina 4] Antelope right [Salonina obverse, Juno, Officina 4] So that's 32 different animal reverses, and we've had 21 shown in this thread (assuming I didn't miss any.) Way more than I expected!
Bought this one just a few days ago. My first (and certainly not my last) ZOO coin. Love those fabulous animals. This is my hippocampus with the head and front legs of a horse but the winding tail of a fish or dolphin. Already on the list
Wonderful work! Thanks so much Donna I wad going to put together an excel sheet when I got back from my run, only to find you've taken care of business for us Great showing thus far team! Already over the half way mark. I better through some kindling on the fire. I hope I have the identification correct If so, were are just 10 away from packing the CT zoo with all of em Gallienus Ӕ Antoninianus. Rome, AD 253-268. GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right / DIANAE CONS AVG, antelope walking right, XI in exergue. RIC 179; C. 160; MIR 747b. 3.3g, 23mm, 6h. Ex: Tauler & Fau
If that's an XI in the exergue, then it's a gazelle walking right and we already have it. Diana's antelope walking right would be from Officina 3. Sorry to disappoint you! In terms of the remaining animals, I don't think I've ever even seen one of the lion or lioness coins on the list.