The "APOLLINI CONS AVG" coins from officina "H" of the Gallienus Zoo series show a centaur on the reverse, facing left with (usually) one foreleg raised. In his outstretched right hand he holds a globe, and he cradles an object in his left arm. What is this object?

Almost every reference catalogue calls this a "trophy", a rather vague term which probably meant that they weren't quite sure what it was. This is unsurprising - due to the high inflation rate at the time, the mints were pumping out huge quantities of coins. As a result, the coins are often on poor-quality flans, plus the dies (particularly the reverse) had a wide range of quality and were often used even after they had become heavily worn.

So what IS the object that the centaur is holding? Since a "trophy" makes no sense, we need to look closer at the item. There's a central line, plus two inwardly-curved lines which either taper down or else flare back out, plus sometimes a line at the lower portion which extends at a right angle from the rest of the piece. The matches nicely with portrayals of a rudder from other coins of this period.

Another bit of evidence is the other item the centaur holds - a globe. The globe and the rudder are commonly shown together on coins of Fortuna, the Roman personification of luck. Fortuna may have had her origins in Nortia, the Roman goddess of fertility and chance, but by this period the personification seems to have been limited to luck or good fortune. While we aren't clear on why the centaur would have been associated with luck, a very common reverse incription on other coins of Gallienus is "Fortuna Redux" - "To the fortunate return" (of the emperor). This attribute of Fortuna watches over travellers, being quite well suited to Gallienus since he was almost constantly criss-crossing his empire, fighting revolts and barbaric incursions.

This particular coin might provide evidence that the rudder and it's purpose were in the engraver's mind as he was preparing this die. The wavy lines to the right of the rudder look like waves - though the rudder is in an upside-down position, it still appears to be shown as if in use, passing through the water.

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