Roman Coin Tails And Value

No basis for this except my first impression but would it be something like a griffin? Were mythical animals ever used around this period?

It's a panther. I believe the other shape is from either a double strike or overstrike.

Oh wow, thanks all for your answers and welcoming messages. I am trying to google a similar one. As I said, I found a number of coins with animals but none seems to match this one. The search goes on. As for its value, how much do you think the coin may be worth? Many thanks.

I agree with it being a panther with some sort of error. There is no Jupiter on here, however - that is the face of the emperor Gallienus himself, wearing the radiate crown. Another figure often depicted wearing the radiate crown is Sol.

This series of coins issued by Gallienus is referred to as the 'Zoo' series, as he issued a large quantity of coins depicting various animals and devoted to various gods. This one reads LIBERO P CONS AVG, which was always paired with a big cat which is referred to as a 'Panther' when its smooth and a 'Tigress' when its stripey - unfortunately, we can't tell which one this is! The panther/tigress isn't the most common type, but almost all of the zoo animals are easily available with a few exceptions. A large hoard from this time period from the UK was examined to see which animals it had and out of 2737 'Zoo' coins, 207 were this type. The most common was 'DIANAE CONS AVG' (Stag, Antelope or Doe), with 1190, but the rarest was 'HERCVLI CONS AVG' (Lion or Boar) with only 4.

So, it is an example of a slightly uncommon type from a heavily collected series which always helps value. But! These coins are exceptionally common; Gallienus issued huge numbers coins and ones in good condition are very easy to come by, so a mis-strike isn't worth much unless there is a clear undertype. For this coin, I think you would probably only get $5, $10 if someone has a hole in their zoo set. Personally, I think it has a lot more value as a historical piece.

to the Community!