Lions and tigers and panthers, oh my!

C POBLICIUS QF ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS POBLICIA
AR Serratus Denarius
OBVERSE: ROMA, draped bust of Roma right, helmeted & decorated with corn ears, control mark letter above
REVERSE: C•POBLICI•Q•F, Hercules strangling the Nemean lion, club at his feet
Struck at Rome 80 BC
3.88g, 16mm
Cr380/1, Syd 768, Poblicia 9

TARAS, CALABRIA
AR Diobol
OBVERSE: Head of Athena in crested helmet left decorated with Skylla
REVERSE: Herakles kneeling right, strangling lion
Struck at Taras 380-334 BC
1.2g, 11mm
Vlasto 1316

 

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Great coins !

 

Did we get closer to the answer of the original question?
I was way off - which is fine (not the first or last).

 

Here's a nice Roman Provincial coin of Anazarbos, a city in the inland of Cilicia, not far from current Adana. It shows Dionysos with a leopard: you can see his spots, or are they curls?



AE27 Valerianus (253-260). Anazarbos in Cilicia. Obv: AVT K ΠΛIK OVAΛEPIANOC CE. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: ANAZAPBOV / Γ - Γ / ET BOC A M K. Dionysos seated left on panther (leopard, spotted!) crouching right. 27 mm, 14.62 gr.

 

From the other side of our age spectrum, here's a Venetian token with TWO lions on it, a large and fierce one, armed with a book, a halo and large wings, and a meek one with a sore paw, comforted by a friendly senior:



AE jeton Venice. Tessera for paying ducal toll (‘pedaggi doganali’), type ‘Androcles and the Lion’. 13th-14th cent. Obv. Lion of St. Mark with book, four flowers. Rev. Androcles and the Lion/ 8 bizanti (dots). 24 mm, 5.50 gr. Vanni about nr. 240.

And around the year 1000 AD we have this clawy animal with horizontal stripes, could it be a snow leopard? It's from the Qarakhanid dynasty in Central Asia, that was newly converted to Islam, but still carried characteristics from other religions: Buddhism and Manichaeism. According to a recent study by Shamsiddin Kamoliddin, Manichaeism was a strong undercurrent in Qarakhanid cultural life.

This is only one of many coins showing Manichaeist elements.



AE fals Qarakhanids. Yusuf bin Abd Allah. Chach 396AH = 1006 AD. Obv. Cheetah (?) with stripes and curly tail walks to the right. 22 mm. 1.47 gr. Album 3306A. Cannito-Fedorov 20.

 

Lion and bull : what a pair !

Trajan Decius Sestertius
Viminacium Moesia Superior
Moesia with Bull & lion at sides

 

Sorry about the slab . It is a new purchase: Growl


CARIA. Uncertain mint. Ca. 520-490 BC. AR stater (19mm, 11.01 gm). NGC Choice XF 3/5 - 4/5. Mylasa (?). Forepart of lion right / Quadripartite incuse square. SNG Kayhan 930. A nicely centered example with just the tip of the lion's nose off flan.

Is this an extinct lion animal depicted on this coin?