Hey everyone, How's it goin? I don't have any new coins. But, I have a new reptile!! I've wanted a leopard gecko for a very long time and, thanks to my parents, I was able to adopt one on Wednesday. Her name is Dotty: I was able to hand feed her for the first time last night. When I first started collecting ancients, it didn't take me long to find coins with reptiles on them. Besides Biblical coins, I love coins with lizards, snakes and turtles on them. I only have a couple, but I hope to add more someday way in the future. My dream reptile coin in the Aegina turtle stater. Feel free to post anything you like. I'm always game for RANDOM, UNRELATED posts. Happy Weekend All!! Erin
How fun! Last year in Arizona we found a torpid Southwestern Fence lizard in a flower pot, too cold to get away. Bought a little cage and made many trips to Petco for crickets. Just loved watching it playing it cool, letting the crickets even crawl on it, and then fast as lightning gobble it up. Before we left for Minnesota I let "Jorgina" go into the wild, and have to admit I had grown fond of her. (If she was a her). I hope Dotty enjoys a long life with you! Steve
Adorable! How old do you think she is? We have many common geckos in the wild on our property & I set up environments to help them thrive, including outdoor lighting to attract bugs at night. It's fun to watch them catch insects around the lights. Occasionally we find babies in the house - it's a challenge to capture & release them outside!
Congrats on the new reptile, Erin! Here are a couple of less fortunate lizards: SICILY, Kamarina. 420-405 BCE. AE tetras, 3.34 gm. Large head of Athena left, wearing crested helmet with wings. Owl standing left, with lizard in talon; KAMA (retrograde) upward in right field; three dots in exergue. Westermark / Jenkins 198 (see FIG. Pl. 35 / 198.24), SNG ANS 1230 Calciati III no. 28/4 (dotted-border type) SICILY, Kamarina. 420-405 BCE. AE tetras, 3.11 gm. Head of Athena right, wearing winged Phrygian helmet; dotted border. KAMA (legend from top to bottom), with owl standing left, lizard in talons; three dots in exergue. Westermark / Jenkins 202, SNG ANS -., Calciati III No. 39. Well since you opened that door... . The following is a true story. I typed it out for a friend five years ago and will copy and paste it here for your amusement. Or horror. ... Mom's Lizard Mausoleum It's nice being home for the holidays, hanging out with Mom, cooking (me for her-- she doesn't like to cook), watching her stalk Adam Lambert, dutifully watching all of his DVR'd performances and interviews she's saved since my last visit. Texas weather at that time of year is unpredictable. Some years it's 18 degrees, some years 80. It was just right this year; warm days, cold nights. Perhaps unusually warm. Good thing since her house is two old cabins built together by what is now a large living room. The walls and ceilings are 3/4" thick planks. The airspace between the (leaky) inner and outer walls is just that: airspace. Apparently crumpled newspaper was used for insulation in the early 1900s. Brrr. At least the central heating seems to work a little better now than when I was a child. Anyway, it was fairly warm although the inside temperature was in the low 60's at night. While reading in bed that first night I glanced at the cold tile floor and saw a lizard cowering between an electrical cord and the wall. The anole looked reasonably healthy. I approached it. "Hi, little guy!" It didn't move at first but when threatened with touch it did run away-- none too fast though. It disappeared under the bed. I didn't feel like chasing it but I did report the sighting to Mom the next morning. "Oh, that must be the one your brother saw when he was home a few weeks ago." She was happy to hear that it was still alive. She'd been worried about it and felt bad about not trying to find it rescue it-- although I have no idea what "rescuing it" would entail. Later that day, Mom called to me from the living room. "Here's another under the Christmas tree. It's a big one. Oh dear, I think it's dead." Sure enough. A fairly large anole, greenish brown. Mostly brown. Very sluggish. Well actually, not moving at all. The dogs found it. Maybe it was the one I saw the in the bedroom the night before? It seemed healthy enough then. "Let me take a look, Mom." It was not the bedroom anole. This one was bigger. "Hi there, Mr. Lizard. Do you know Andy*?" [*More about Andy here] No answer. It seemed robust enough but it was dark brown and sure enough, it wasn't moving. Didn't even flinch when the dogs or cat approached. But there's an old medical saying: "You're not dead until you're warm and dead." That's really more for cold water drownings but the principle seemed sound. I wasn't ready to pronounce him. "Let me warm him up and see if he comes back to life." I picked up the cold and unmoving anole and cupped him gently in my hands. Mom looked on worriedly. Half a minute later he sprang out of my hands and ran away. Ah, the satisfaction of being a healer. Mom was happy but still worried. "What's going to happen to him? What will he eat? Should we take him outside? He'll freeze out there!" (Imagine Laura Petrie wringing her hands. Not quite a warbling "Ohhh Robbb" but the same general vibe.) How do anoles survive winter? They live a few years and they are cold blooded. The must hibernate or go into some type of reptilian suspended animation. I hadn't thought about it before since I live in a never-winter place. Google to the rescue. Yep, they burrow down and wait it out in a state of greatly slowed metabolism. Okay, good to know. But that doesn't really help our dilemma. Should we leave them in the house or round them up and deposit them in deep piles of leaves? If we leave them inside and if they remain active, should we feed them? If so, what? I offered to go to a pet store and buy some mealworms. She didn't like that plan-- mealworms are people too. So we did nothing. Over the next few days we saw more… or found the same ones again. A total of three were spotted. Eventually the large one initially seen under the Christmas tree was found again… unmoving. We put him back under the Christmas tree, on the tree skirt, building a little cave around him using the wrapped fake perpetual presents Mom keeps under the tree to make it look more bountiful and festive. We checked on this one (we'll call him Lizard #1) periodically. He seemed to never move. Maybe once or twice he was in a slightly different position but perhaps a dog or the cat bumped him. The slight positional changes were enough to keep Mom's hope alive. Lizard #1 in more animated times: The issue of whether to build him an outdoor hibernation burrow versus leaving him inside remained undecided by the time I flew home. I suggested that she put Lizard #1 in a shoebox or something out of the way; once spring arrives, take it outside and see if it reanimates. Over the next few weeks she found two more. Unmoving. She put Lizard #1 and Lizard #2 in separate boxes with nice soft liners of course. Deluxe accommodations. The third she inexplicably left on the living room floor. She thinks it may have moved a few times (I think a dog or cat moved it). Eventually I forgot about them. Weeks later I remembered to ask her about the Lizard Mausoleum. Apparently it's still in business. She's "pretty sure" they're dead but not sure enough to dispose of them. And by "dispose of them" I mean give them a proper burial. Yep, she can't bring herself to just toss them out; they will get a burial. "Mom, can you text me pictures of them? I'll see if I can tell if they might still be alive." More "Ohhhh Robbbb"ing as she tried to remember how to take and text pictures but she did prevail. The ensuing texts: The pictures from her texts: At a glance I snorted and rolled my eyes. "They are all D-E-A-D, Mom." #2 is certainly dead. Wait... how do I know what a hibernating lizard looks like? Some emaciation is surely expected. These are looking well on their way to mummification though. Still, I could not make the call with 100% certainty. 4/22/14: The lizards are still in their boxes (including #3, which was finally given a decent mausoleum box). She is now 99.99% they are dead dead but is waiting until it warms up a little to bury them. I bet they're still in boxes when I head to Texas in July. I'll pick a nice spot in the yard for their interment. Epilogue: Yep. In July they were still in their boxes and she had added more. We had a lovely funeral.
I have a small red-headed gecko living on my lanai (just one of many). He/she comes running out mid afternoon when I go sit and have a snack (usually cookies). I toss him a crumb or two which he runs to and gobbles down. I thought at first this was just a coincidence, but it happens nearly every day. Hmmm, I guess I have a pet after all.
Cool gecko, @Johndakerftw ! Nice gift Lizards SICILY Kamarina Æ Onkia 13mm 1.5g 420-405 BCE Gorgoneion tongue - KAMA owl right, lizard in claw pellet in ex SNG München 411 Sicily Kamarina AE 15mm 3.4g 420-405 BCE Athena Owl, left lizard in claw, 3 dots Sear Gk 1063
since you like lizards, snakes, and turtles... SNAKES RR Man Acilius Glabrio 49 BCE Salus Valetudo snake Craw 442-1a Sear 412 RI Hadrian CE 117-138 AR Denarius Salus stdg feeding Snake Makedon Alexander III the Great AE17 5.6g 325-310 Alex-Herakles lion skin - B A bow case club Coiled SNAKE Price 385
TURTLE nope... how ‘bout a... FROG... Luceria AES Grave Anonymous 217-215 BCE Uncia 7.35g Obv: Frog, seen from above Rev: Corn Ear, pellet, retrograd L Thurlow & Vecchi 285
Thanks everyone, love the coins! TIF: Your friend's mom is fantastic and so sweet. An anole was actually my first reptile pet. Here is a closeup of Dotty's awesome eyes: Erin
Sorry for the confusion, my intro was vague. That's my mom and me in the story-- I told the story to a coin friend five years ago so it was already typed out. And yes, she is very sweet . Earlier today she texted about lizards again. It's that time of year... they come inside and miss the opportunity to hibernate and she doesn't know what to do about it. She tried to catch today's lizards and take them outside but they escaped to other parts of the house. Fabulous picture, beautiful creature! I'm envious that you get to touch your lizards. I'm surrounded by reptiles but they aren't keen on being petted . ... Assorted reptile pics from where I currently live:
@TIF, I enjoyed the link to Andy's story as well as the one of your mom. That little cemetery with tongue depressor headstones: what a hoot! Reminds me of when I was in college and had an "illegal" pet in my dorm (a hamster named Knute). Miracle of miracles, one day Knute had babies, so I had to change her name to Knuta. Unfortunately, Knuta died, and, since I was a pledge at a fraternity, and Knuta being so well-known because of the "virgin birth," [although I suspect she was playing around shortly before I bought her], we had a full-fledged funeral march from the dorm, funeral with an appropriate homily, and burial (in a very nice check blank box) in the front yard of the House. That was only one of many special pet burials over the years. Steve
That's an adorable new little animal friend! I had leopard geckos, curly-tailed lizards, and bearded dragons when I was a kid. The leopard geckos always were my favorite – they make great pets. (You probably already know, but please don't forget to feed Dotty enough calcium and vitamine D3. Leopard geckos quickly develop bone disease if they don't get their calcium.) Some of my reptile coins: Macedonia, Eion, trihemiobol, ca. 460-400 BC. Obv: Goose standing r., head turned l.; lizard curving l. above; H to lower r. Rev: quadripartite incuse square. 12 mm, 0,71g. Ref: SNG Cop 179. Roman Republic, moneyer: Mn. Acilius, AR denarius, 49 BC, Rome mint. Obv: SALVTIS; laureate head of Salus r. Rev: MN·ACILIVS; III·VIR·VALETV; Valetudo standing left, resting l. arm on column and holding snake in r. hand. Ref: RRC 442/1b. 19mm, 3.74g. Hadrian, Roman Empire, AE as, 125–128 AD, Rome mint. Obv: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS; bust of Hadrian, laureate, r. Rev: COS III; Salus, draped, standing r., feeding snake out of patera; in fields flanking, SC. 26mm, 10.2g. Ref: RIC II Hadrian, 669c. Ex AMCC 1, their picture. Edit: Dragons also count as reptiles, don't they? Freiburg im Breisgau, civic issue, bracteate penny ("vierzipfliger Pfennig"), ca. 1250 AD. Obv: dragon ("Lindwurm") r. Rev: negative design. 18mm, 0.37g. Ref: Berger 2432–3; Slg. Wüthrich 54; Wielandt, Breisgau 44.
Thanks Orielensis, I already have a bearded dragon and golden gecko, so calcium powder is always a staple here. My golden gecko is 18 years old! She's definitely an adult, so at least three years old, PlanoSteve. I love the Eion trihemiobol. I really want to get one some day. Those iguanas, holy cow! Pets are so awesome. I'd be really lonely without them. Erin
Erin, Dotty is a beautiful gecko ! I only have one lizard made out of glass and embedded in a paperweight, 4.0 in. diameter, made by a famous glass artist with a studio in Clarence, NY, Victor Trabucco. He made another paperweight nearly identical to this one for the Corning Museum of Glass.
