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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;zumbly, post: 2734471, member: 57495&quot;]<i>&quot;Muse, tell me about Pan, the dear son of Hermes, with his goat&#039;s feet and two horns - a lover of merry noise. Through wooded glades he wanders with dancing nymphs, who foot it on some sheer cliff&#039;s edge, calling upon Pan, the shepherd god, long-haired, unkempt.&quot;</i></p><p>- Homeric Hymn (19) to Pan, c. 7th-6th century BC</p><p><br /></p><p>Avert your eyes, animal lovers, the reverse here shows not your usual pipe-playing goat-boy gamboling with nymphs, but one looking more the part of a cruel rabbit-beating, fawn-skinning sociopath, just one step removed from the wild beasts that he was the lord of.&nbsp; I had to do a double take when I first saw this coin, with Pan standing unbowed, looking almost triumphant, sticking a sharp cloven hoof into the chest of a hapless, supine panther.&nbsp; Whaaaat??... I thought he and Dionysos&#039; favored pet were pals!</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;ve found nothing in ancient depictions of Pan that show him in quite this manner, but it&#039;s very possible that this scene was modeled on a sculpture or painting that was well-known at the time.&nbsp; While rare, this reverse type was also used on a Caracalla bronze of Hadrianopolis, Thrace.&nbsp; If the origin of this unfamiliar treatment of the sylvan god was indeed a piece of art, it&#039;s now lost to us except for these coins.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>In the last couple of years, I&#039;ve really come to love these interesting, oftimes enigmatic provincial types.&nbsp; When I saw this one, I simply had to have it.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>As &quot;pan&quot; used as a prefix means &quot;all-inclusive&quot;, please feel free to pile on with pics of whatever you like... Pan coins, pans, pens, underpants... <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]622749[/ATTACH] </p><p><b>ELAGABALUS</b></p><p>Rare. AE27. 12.24g, 26.9mm. MOESIA INFERIOR, Nicopolis ad Istrum, circa 218-222. Novius Rufus, legate. Varbanov 3949 (same dies); AMNG 1933 corr. (2 specimens). O: AVT M AVP ANTΩ[NINOC, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. R: VΠ NOBIOV POVΦOV NIKOΠOΛITΩN ΠPO around, C ICTPΩ in exergue, Pan, with goats horns and legs, standing left, draped in nebris (fawn-skin), fawn hooves hanging from left arm, holding lagobolon (rabbit-bashing stick) in right hand, placing left hoof on the chest of submissive panther which is lying on its back on the ground and raising its head.</p><p><i>Ex Dr. Rainer Pudill Collection, purchased from Majestic, Großostheim, on 24 Sep 1997</i>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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