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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Alegandron, post: 3685261, member: 51347&quot;]Very nice coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am not too sure that the Caesar coin is actually rare.&nbsp; In this article, an estimated 22.5 Million were minted:</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;One of Julius Caesar&#039;s most famous coin issues is the ‘elephant denarius’. The reverse features a group of religious symbols: a <a href="http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/research/dept_projects/beginningsofempire/glossary/#c" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/research/dept_projects/beginningsofempire/glossary/#c" rel="nofollow"><i>culullus</i></a>, <i>aspergillum</i>, an axe decorated with animal imagery, and an apex. On the obverse, the denarius shows a right facing elephant with the word &quot;CAESAR&quot; in the exergue. <b><i><span style="color: #b30000">An estimated 22.5 million pieces were minted, making this coin the third most frequent in the Republican era and adequate to pay eight legions.</span></i></b> It is often dated to 49 B.C, the year Caesar took large quantities of gold and silver from the treasury in the <a href="http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/romeancientrome/ig/Ancient-Rome/Temple-of-Saturn.-3xP.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/romeancientrome/ig/Ancient-Rome/Temple-of-Saturn.-3xP.htm" rel="nofollow">Temple of Saturn</a> in Rome. This metal was probably used to fund his new denarius. The date is one among the questions about the coin that continue to be debated. Other undecided issues include what the elephant is standing on.</p><p><br /></p><p>The elephant may symbolize Caesar&#039;s <a href="http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/caesa1/tp/102210-Caesars-Gallic-Wars.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/caesa1/tp/102210-Caesars-Gallic-Wars.htm" rel="nofollow">Gallic campaign</a> against Ariovistus in the battle of Vosges in 58 BC, especially if the object on which the elephant treads is a Gallic war trumpet. &quot;</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/numismatics/entry/the_elephant_denarius/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/numismatics/entry/the_elephant_denarius/" rel="nofollow">https://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/numismatics/entry/the_elephant_denarius/</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>As to the &quot;Snake&quot;, I kinda lean towards the Celtic CARNYX.&nbsp; Too many depictions give it that &quot;dragon&quot; shaped head, even my worn example above.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>CARNYX</b></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]988471[/ATTACH]</p><p>RImp Albinus Bruti AR Den <b>48 BC</b> Mars Carnyces Cr 450-1a[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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