Elephants on Roman coins -- including my RR Denarius No. 37

A very interesting thread; thanks.

 

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Fascinating write-up, DonnaML, and all the interesting contributions about elephants on coins. Thank you all for sharing.

Don't have any coins with an elephant, neither whole nor dismembered. Maybe someday I get lucky

 

Nice coins!



not Roman, but funny.

 

Caracalla (AD 198–217). AE denarius. Obv. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT, laureate head of Caracalla, Rev. P M TR P XV COS III P P, elephant right. RIC 199

 

Here's a Conder token that shows a similar lack of familiarity with elephant anatomy.

 

That's a beautiful denarius @DonnaML ! Both issues of Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius as imperator are among my favorite Roman Republican types.

Here is, as requested, an assortment of ancient elephants:

Antiochos III “the Great,” Seleucid Empire, AE denomination D, 223–187 BC, Sardes mint. Obv: head of Apollo r. Rev: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOXOY; elephant standing l., anchor in l. field. 12mm, 2.39g. Ref: Seleucid Coins I, 979.


Roman Republic, imperatorial issue of Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius, AR denarius, 81 BC, Northern Italian mint. Obv: diademed head of Pietas r.; to r., 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.


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.


Huvishka, Kushan Empire, AE tetradrachm, c. 155-189 CE. Obv: þAONANOþ OOηþKE KOþANO (partially struck), King riding elephant r., holding elephant goad. Re: OηþO; Oesho (Siva?) standing facing, holding trident and deerskin. 26mm, 9.97g. Ref: Göbl 855; Mitchiner 3291-3301.


Satavahana Empire, early Satakarni ruler, BI karshapana, ca. 39–107 AD, minted in northern Deccan region. Obv: Elephant with raised trunk r., remains of legend ("Rano Siri Satakanisa"). Revers: Dynastic symbol. 19mm, 2.85g. Ref: Mitchiner 4941–4952.


Hindu Shahi, Samanta Deva, AE jital, ca. 850–1000 AD, Ohind mint (?). Obv: Elephant advancing l.; Nagari legend “Sri Samanta Deva” above. Rev: Lion standing r. with jaws open and paw raised. 16mm, 1.64g. Ref: Tye 19.

 

I didn't know that you collect Conder tokens, @Roman Collector. That's a very nice one. Complete with a shockingly risque obverse. Pro Bono Publico indeed!

Among what remains of my British historical medal collection, I have a very small number of so-called Conder tokens myself. Including this Pidcock farthing token, from about 1800, with an elephant on the obverse and a cockatoo on the reverse. These tokens were issued depicting all sorts of different animals, to advertise Pidcock's Royal Menagerie in London.





See P. & B. Withers, The Token Book: British Tokens of the 17th 18th and 19th Centuries and their Values (2010), No. 1067 at p. 306.

 

I love that Pidcock farthing!!!

 

Conder tokens are the kind of thing I wish I'd gotten into deeper when I might have. One British numismatist, now deceased (no, none of the three or so usual suspects), favored me with some correspondence, on either side of having bought his William I BMC 1 halfpenny of Thetford. He mentioned how he was starting to collect high-grade Conders, effectively on the ground floor.

 

Congrats @DonnaML on #37 & on your 2K, 10K, 9 month milestones! I guess I was sleeping when this thread started - and clearly elephants are a crowd pleaser as we are already on page 3. Here's a favorite elephant, a coin of this type already posted by @Ryro on page one:

The Pompeians, Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio, 47- Spring 46 BC, AR denarius, struck by a military mint traveling with Scipio in Africa
Obv: Laureate head of Jupiter right; Q • METEL around right, PIVS below
Rev: Elephant advancing right; SCIPIO above, IMP below
Ref: Crawford 459/1

Here are my two elephants from this type - the duck-like feet are particularly pronounced on the left-most coin:

- although there could be some hair, especially on top of the head- mine are both relatively hairless.
- as I have indents on both on the hind leg, I see the gouge on these coins as the defining indent of bulging hind leg muscles, I don't think countermark on your coin as much as worn die and/or engraver experimenting with representing a muscular elephant. For some reason this makes me think of 17-year-old Michelangelo studying anatomy:

- The tail on both of my coins is clearly seen behind

 

I saw many superb coins here !!

Antoninus Pius Æ as. RIC 862a
ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XII Laureate head right /
MVNIFICENTA AVG Elephant standing right, COS IIII S C in ex.

 

That's a very nice example of the Metullus Pius Scipio, @Sulla80. The son or perhaps the grandson of the one who issued mine?

And thanks for trying to answer my questions. I still think there's some kind of fuzz along the top of the back of my elephant, unless it's just the equivalent of flow lines or some such thing.

As for the gouge around the left hind leg, I agree with you that it can't be the tail. Even though the tail of mine is mostly off the flan, you can still see the beginning of it, and it's clearly nowhere near the area I was speculating about. I like your idea of the engraver experimenting with showing musculature. Certainly the most plausible explanation anyone has come up with so far, although I do still like my idea of a dinosaur bite! And I think your idea is consistent with the way the elephant is depicted on the coin in general: by contrast to the other coins that I and others have posted in this thread -- all of which have elephants that look more seamless, like real animals -- the one on the Q. Caecilius Metullus Pius looks almost like a mechanical elephant, as if it's constructed out of different parts joined together, with the joins visible. See, for example, the trunk and legs and ear, etc. So perhaps the engravers of this design were all forward thinkers, showing off their vast knowledge of elephant anatomy!

 

More elephants - whole or headresses

 

Great coins! Here's a "presentation tray":

 

Interesting coins all. Here's one from Alexandria:

Trajan Ae Dichalkon, dated regnal year 16; 14mm, 1.3gms
Obv: Laureate bust right
Rev: Elephant walking right, LIS above

 

Thanks so much, that looks super! Someday maybe I can upgrade my iPhone skills and do great work like that!

 

I find it hard to do photo editing on iPhone - easier with a laptop. I was tempted to make a joke about my daily rate being unchanged for 2000 years - still only two denarii a day or with longer term contracts 5 aurii a quarter....but couldn't quite figure out how to make that funny.

 

You’re hired! On second thought I can’t think of 2 denarii that I would part with.

 

I don't want to encourage this, but given that we're on page 3, and that a few people have done so anyway, I might as well post the two coins I have showing elephant-skin headdresses myself:

Nero, with Alexandria on the reverse wearing an elephant-skin headdress:





Septimius Severus with the personification of Africa on the reverse, with an elephant-skin headdress and a lion crouched at her feet:



Those poor unfortunate souls. I still far prefer my elephants non-dismembered!

 

Great coins on this thread @DonnaML! I'm posting late but I have a few to share. It looks to me that by the third century, Roman artists had seen enough elephants to understand the anatomy pretty well.

Caracalla. AR denarius, Rome, 212 CE; 2.81g. BMCRE 47, Hill 1312, RIC 199, RSC 208. Obv: ANTONINVS PIVS – AVG BRIT; head laureate r. Rx: P M TR P XV H [sic] COS III P P; Elephant walking r.

The rev. die has been altered, with XV re-engraved over XIIII. The rev. die has been altered, with XV re-engraved over XIIII. The crossbar of what appears to be an “H” in the reverse legend likely denotes a deliberate typographical strikethrough of the obsolete date.

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Caracalla. AR denarius, Rome, 212 CE; 18mm, 3.40g. BMCRE 47, Hill 1312, RIC 199, RSC 208. Obv: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT; head laureate r. Rx: P M TR P XV COS III P – P; Elephant walking r.

The rev. die has been altered, with XV re-engraved over XIIII.

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Philip I (the Arab). AR antoninianus. Rome, 249 CE; 21mm, 4.82g, 12h. RIC 58, RSC 17. Obv: IMP PHILIPPVS AVG; radiate and draped bust r. Rx: AETERNITAS AVGG; elephant walking l., bearing driver who holds goad and wand.