The Hercules Coins of Gallienus' "Zoo"


Hercules was the son of Jupiter and a mortal woman, Alcmene. Hercules' coins in the Zoo series depict animals from two of his Twelve Labors, the male lion (the Nemean Lion, from the first Labor) and the boar (the Boar of Erymanthus, from the fourth Labor). Only one of the lion type was seen in the Cunetio Hoard, compared with 3 of the boars. These two coins represent the true rarities in the series.

Census Information
Type Legend Obverse Cunetio Göbl
Lion walking left GALLIENUS AVG head 1 4
Boar running right GALLIENUS AVG head 3 27


Lion


 Obv: GALLIENVSAVG - Head right wearing a radiate crown.
Rev: HERCVLICONSAVG - Lion walking left. A in exergue.

RIC.201, VM.91, SR.----, RSC.316, CT.1339, Göbl.709b (4 examples)


Boar

Hoard statistics:
Cunetio Hoard: 3 out of 2737 Zoo coins, 54951 coins total
Normanby Hoard: 4 out of 1849 Zoo coins, 47912 coins total
Chalfont Hoard: 1 out of 228 Zoo coins, 6682 coins total
Chalgrove Hoard: 1 out of 78 Zoo coins, 4145 coins total
La Venara Hoard: 1 out of ? coins

Obv: GALLIENVSAVG - Head right wearing a radiate crown.
Rev: HERCVLICONSAVG - Wild boar running right. Epsilon (Greek E) in exergue.

RIC.202, VM.92, SR.2962, RSC.317, CT.1367, Göbl.729b (27 examples)



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All coins from the author's collection. Not a commercial site, these coins are not for sale.

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Coins of Gallienus' Zoo
last modified: 7 Mar 2006