Bought my first Ancient deer for 2016. I have most of the information on it but just can't seem to find the year to attribute it to - any help will be appreciated - THANKS! This is what I have so far: "Gallienus AE antoninianus. Rome X. DIANAE CONS AVG/Deer"
I hope this helps: It seems most of the type with a 'stag' are dated 267-68 AD....at least as listed on acsearch. So, that seems a reasonable starting point. EDIT: Can you make out a mintmark in exergue???
Nice looking coin. Here is mine. GALLIENUS Antoninianus OBVERSE: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right REVERSE: DIANAE CONS AVG, Stag walking left Struck at Rome, Sole Reign, 267-268 AD 2.7g, 18mm RIC 179
The 'ole Gallienus zoo! That's a coin I would own and I "set" I would like to complete...one day. Here's my contribution to your thread: Gallienus, AD 253-268 Billon Antoninianus, 2.84g, 12h; Rome mint, Obv.: GALLIENVS AVG; Radiate, cuirassed bust right. Rev.: DIANAE CONS AVG; Antelope walking left In Ex.: XII
Great coins everyone. I love this type. Diana was the protectress of the hunt, so these coins are essentially religious in character.
With your info it is "stag" not deer, my mistake. And I found one similar in Wildwinds that was stated as AD 267. So I'll go with the ad 267-268 And no MM visible Thanks much!
If anyone is interested in the series there's a pretty informative site with examples of all the coins. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/lateromancoinage/cons_aug/gallienus.html Not my website.
Does anyone know the context around the Gallienus zoo series? In the mid to late third century there's a lot of boring "somebody standing there" reverse types (as Doug would say), and then suddenly we have this lovely menagerie on the Gallienus coins. What does this series commemorate?
I wasn't aware of this page, and I thought I had read pretty much everything at FORVM. Thanks for linking it! That article he references in the 1990 CNR is excellent - I recommend anyone interested in the series to get that volume. Most volumes of CNG can be had cheap with a little patient hunting.
Each of the animals is sacred to the god named on the coin so I would say the series is a list of gods which the emperor is asking to help his cause.
I'll post a synopsis of the CNR article tomorrow - just don't have time for it today, but Doug has given you the gist of it.
Check out the link in my quoted post below. That's the best answer I've got and I would feel wrong copy/pasting it.
Stag coins? ... is that what you're lookin' for? ... => Yeah, it's a Stag Party!!! .... ummm, I have a few stag examples ... sadly/amazingly my only zoo-coin so far is that raggedy ol' panther ... => oh, but I still have all of the zoo-coins on my bucket-list!!
Your last coin says NASA and has what looks like raindeer about to take to the sky with a chariot. Awesome! That's one more thing the Ancients invented, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Someone call the show Ancient Aliens
When I posted my page on books (the one I keep intending to update but never seem to do it) I stated that old auction catalogs was my favorite coin reference 'book' I have a few hundred which is paltry compared to a couple of our members who have thousands. CNG is one of my favorites from the 90's but their more recent volumes are online which offer the huge advantage of being searchable. The businesses like CNG who contribute to the good of our hobby by giving back issue material to us all for free really deserve our sincere thanks. I feel guilty not bidding on more of their sales but I am just a giant cheapskate and not at all a nice person. You will notice that I am not running for President so I can tell it like it really is!