Ancient Coin Animals by Alphabet

I really didn't participate because I was working off my phone while in Poland. But I did follow along. It was a great thread with many beautiful coins. Thanks.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

i heard someone say zebu...







TIF did the spectacular background on this one...

 

Why is the bottom cousin's background like that? Am I missing a joke? I want in!

 

ZEBU II: The Reckoning.

 

i originally tried a horrible red background, so TIF fixed it for me.

 

Haha! That was nice of her.

 

Once again: great job, everyone! We represented ancient coin animals for all letters except K (only a mythological beast was shown), N, Q, U, V, X, and Y. I've searched ancient coins as there appear to be no animal options for K, N (unless you count "Nile crocodile"), U, and X. We could probably count some of the snakes as vipers, since there are definitely asps and vipers in the ancient world. Y is iffy... some Bactrian coin attributions with a bovid listed as "yak or zebu". Zebu seems correct to me though since the animal in question has a prominent hump.

Final list of animals shown in this thread: (feel free to continue adding new animal coins though)

Blue: shown but not owned
Red: mythological
Green: not ancient

Antelope
Aquila/eagle
Ass
Bear
Bee
Bird
Bison
Boar
Bull
Butterfly
Camel
Capricorn
Chimera
Centaur
Cobra/Uraeus
Cockle/Clam
Cow
Crab
Crayfish
Crocodile
Crow
Doe/Deer
Dog
Dolphin
Dove
Dragon
Eagle
Elephant
Fish
Fly
Fox
Frog
Goat
Goose
Grasshopper
Griffin/gryphon
Hare
Heron
Hawk
Hippo
Hippocamp
Horse
Hound
Ibis
Impala
Insect (nonspecific)
Jackal-headed god (Hermanubis)
Jerboa (maybe )
Ketos
Lion
Lizard
Monkey
Mule
Murex sea snail
Octopus
Ostrich
Owl
Oxen
Panther
Partridge
Peacock
Pegasus
Phoenix
Pig
Ram
Rat
Raven
Rhino
Rooster
Sable
Scallop
Scorpion
Serpent/Snake
Shrimp
Sphinx
Stag
Starfish/Sea Star
Swan
Tiger/Tigress
Tortoise
Tuna
Turtle
Wolf
Zebra
Zebu

Here are some animals not shown in this thread, from CNG's archives and AC search:

Cicada (Many different coins from many eras, usually as a secondary feature or control mark. There are many more types than shown below):

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=230831
http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=222465

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=183930
http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=146720

Frog

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=16502
http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=47989


http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=82784 (a controversial type)
http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=215971 (dibs on the next one! )

Jackal

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=126391
http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=48066

Jerboa (although I think the "mouse" on @iamtiberius's Macedonian drachm is in fact a jerboa)

http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2274819

Lobster (!)


http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=246554

Quail (seems like a guess to me; it could be one of a number of types of birds)

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=83148

Stork (although these could be herons or flamingos)

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=35371
http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=100280

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=260953
http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=249803

Vulture

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=169423 (Wow, want!!)

Wasp (although the distinction of wasp, bee, and hornet seems iffy given the limitations of engraving and artistry)

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=230804
http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=31543

Possible Yak (Some of the descriptions say "yak?"; others say "yak or zebu". I think they are zebu.)

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=254151

...

Please add any other unusual animal coins you come across, although don't post coins which are currently being auctioned because it might attract unwanted attention, thwarting a friend's bidding plans.

I wonder why there are no whales depicted on ancient coins? Whales are awe-inspiring animals and some ancient civilizations engaged in whaling.

 

I'm trying not to be upset about all the animal types I don't have.
Here are a few more...


EEL

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=286281


FALCON

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=157577


SEAL (a minor device on many Phokaian coins, but on this one it's the star)

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=222601

 

Oh an eel!

 

I believe that was one of thousands of Clio'd coins .

I have this coin of Vespasian. Emmett and other sources call the bird a hawk. Either would make sense.

 

@TIF, please do not close this Thread... @stevex6 made a good observation about Romans not having as many animals... I have a bunch from the Res Publica that I am working on to post (me been super lazy writing the attributes and pics, and this is a great opportunity to do so!) Please stay tuned...

Beyond, Bigas, Quadrigas, and only 2 issues of Trigas, there were surprisingly a lot of animal issues from the Republic... I am also calling on my coin-compadres that collect Res Republica to pick up Steve's challenge!

Mine won't be purdy, but at least they represent an incredible time in the history of a great people...

 

There are no spiders on ancients?

 

A spider can be found as one of the numerous control marks on Cherronesos hemidrachms, and there are some "spider-like" abstract marks on certain Celtic coins. That's all I've found.

 

Well Alegandron, I wasn't aware that I was "challenging" the Roman collectors ... and I certainly wasn't bad-mouthing Roman coins, but ya gotta admit that the Greek coins were aimed a bit more at nature and myths, whereas the Roman coins seemed to be influenced a bit more by their rulers and battle ...

However, I would love to see more Roman animal-coins ...

 

No, it was a GREAT observation! I had to go check myself, and surprised that I found several animals outside of the Quadriga, Triga, Biga reverses. Just thought it would be a great way for me to attribute / photo mine and post 'em! I thought it was a great challenge for the me to show them, and get some of the quiet RR people to put some out there too! GREAT challenge!

 

Ok: I am late posting, but I had not attributed and photo'd my below posts.
Don't forget, I posted a RR DOLPHIN earlier in the thread..

B - BULL

Roman Republic
AR Denarius 105 BCE
L Thorius Balbus
Obv: Juno of Lanuvium in Goat's skin
Rev: Charging Bull
Sear 192, Crawford 316/1

 

nice ... oh, I admit that the sweet AR-RR examples often have lotsa animals (they were kinda like the gearing-down coins between Greeks and Romans)

 

D - DOG

ROMAN REPUBLIC
AE Half Litra 234-231 BCE
Anonymous
Obv: Roma r wearing Phrygian Helmet
Rev: DAWG walking r, in ex ROMA
Sear 598, Crawford 26/4

 

...

=> great AR-RR additions, my friend

 

E - EAGLE

ROMAN IMPERATORIAL
AR Denarius 32-31 BCE
Marcus Antony Legionary Issue
Legio III
Obv: Ship r, scepter tied with fillet on prow
Rev: LEG III, Eagle between 2 standards
Sear 1479, Crawford 544/15


ROMAN REPUBLIC
AR Denarius 67 BCE
M Plaetorius / MF Cestianus (Curule Aedile by special decree of the Senate)
Obv: Helmeted and draped bust of composite diety, SC r
Rev: M PLAETORIVS MF AED CVR, Eagle standing on thunderbolt
Sear 349, Crawford 409/1