Lion & Bull ... I Think I Would Bet On The Lion?

AncientNoob, thats amazing! I was wondering how the romans got all their lions when the distribution is how it is today.

Also, awesome coin. any idea what the indents are?

Hi Bing => yah, I purchased this coin from "my guy" ... almost half of my coins are from "my guy" (he is a French Canadian dude, and he's also an ancients dealer) ...

Way back when, I stumbled upon "my guy", so I e-mailed DVCollector and asked him to check out "my guy" (DVC seems to be our resident Greek coin pro, right? => and an awesome dude!!) ... well, we both agreed that "my guy" had great stuff => plus, he is outstanding to deal/haggle with, for he is always willing to drop the price for his good customers ... he has a great seller's rating and a super return policy (not that I've ever had to use it) ... he's "golden" ...

NOTE => he is also the guy that gave me that nice ol' Greek coin "gift" (remember that thread? ... the free Greek Griffin coin)

Steve - I agree, a house cat can make you into tiny little chunks in a split second if it pleases.

I think those indents are suspect - thats definitely not a flat ended punch used to creat those. You should see if they arent patterned, that would be nice.

So your coin predates two sided coins? Cool!

Awesome!! => maybe I have the rare Lion versus Eagle coin!!?



Again => I am going to steal ValiantKinight's link (which amazingly/coincidentally has my coin mentioned!!) ... thanks JangoFett!!



http://www.forumancientcoins.com/nu...ecting%20101

NOTE => if you scroll down you'll come to an example of my coin (sadly, the example in the link is far nicer than my example) ... from this example you'll discover what my coin "could have" looked like if the incuse stamps were struck with optimum precision ... quite interesting, yes?

thanks again ValiantKnight for posting this link which basically puts-on a clinic describing my new coin (I owe you a big glass o' wine or a nice big frosty mug o' draught beer!!)

When I first started in the hobby you would see these advertised as the oldest coins. There is a statement, I believe in Herodotus, stating that Croesus issued the first gold and silver coins with these types but, I also believe, that means that he was first to issue gold coins and silver coins separately since earlier coins are made of the naturally occurring alloy of the two metals called electrum. They exist in pure gold as well as silver in several sizes. I have a poorer grade silver one which I believe is 1/3 siglos (1/6 stater).

Few very early coins have reverse types. Someone had to invent the idea and it took a while to catch on. The idea that coins should be round was not an immediate hit either. At 500 BC, the idea that coins were needed was new-fangled and not universally accepted. These things take time just like there are probably half the people on this forum that have never actually spent a real silver dollar. Few people now care whether their money is paper or plastic. US gold last circulated 77 years ago. Has anyone here actually spent one for face?

I'm just starting to take an interest in the ancients. No coins yet, just learning for now. But I became intrigued with the bull vs. lion discussion. Here's my take. Assuming both animals are healthy, one lion would NOT stand a chance against one bull. On a recent trip to Africa I witnessed 4 lions take down one Cape Buffalo. It took over 1/2 hour to bring the beast down. One lion could never do it alone. With reference to a lion taking down an elephant or giraffe. Not a chance, unless it was new born, old or injured. One kick from a giraffe could snap a person in half. And the lion knows this. Thats why lions hunt in packs. My money is on the bull, for the shear size advantage.

Thanks for letting me interject. Now back to learning about ancients. I'm lovin it.

I am well aware that a single kick from a giraffe could kill a man... but some prides specialize in hunting those and Elephants also (healthy bull elephants too) while it is relatively rare there are plenty of documentaries on youtube that confirm it.

Much of hunting is technique and tenacity, as the wolverine shows with the dogged determination it shows hunting animals far bigger than itself, and being hungry can drive big cats to tackle all sorts of game that they otherwise would prefer not to tackle. Also consider that females normally do the hunting, male cats are half as big again; lone males are sometimes forced to hunt for themselfs.

While I agree a single lion is far less effective than a pride I don't think many animals want to be seen by a lion running because that engages their hunting instincts. If the lion can tackle the bull from behind and bites its neck correctly it will do severe damage, if the bull however is face on to the lion it wouldn't really know how to effectively combat it.