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Message:: [QUOTE="DonnaML, post: 4984194, member: 110350"]That's a very nice example of the Metullus Pius Scipio, [USER=99456]@Sulla80[/USER]. 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![/QUOTE]