THE ZOO COINAGE OF GALLIENUS

Rome did not fall in 260 CE. However, it came close enough to terrify anyone who could read the signs.

The empire staggered through the Crisis of the Third Century, a brutal half century of civil war, foreign invasion, plague, inflation, and political collapse that ran from 235 to 284 CE . Then disaster struck at the top. The Persian ruler Shapur captured Emperor Valerian after the Battle of Edessa in 260. Ancient writers later added grisly stories about Valerian's captivity, including the famous tale that Shapur used him as a footstool .

That left Valerian's son, Gallienus, with a poisoned crown.

Gallienus ruled alone from 260 until his assassination in September 268 . He faced breakaway provinces, military rivals, frontier chaos, and a money system under severe pressure. Yet from that storm came one of the most charming and collectible coin groups of the Roman Empire.

Collectors call it the Zoo Coinage of Gallienus.

These coins do not merely show animals. They show Rome begging the old gods for help.

A Coin Series Built Like a Prayer

Late in his reign, Gallienus issued a remarkable series of antoniniani that paired protective deities with real and mythical creatures. The reverse legends often end with CONS AVG, short for Conservator Augusti, or "Preserver of the Emperor."

That phrase gives the series its meaning.

Gallienus did not strike a random animal parade. Instead, he placed Diana, Apollo, Sol, Jupiter, Liber Pater, Neptune, Mercury, Hercules, and Juno on the side of the imperial house. The animals served as divine companions, emblems, or mythological clues. Together, they turned pocket change into religious propaganda.

Pegasus, Sol, and the Power of the Sun

Pegasus / Sol – Gallienus BI Antoninianus. Rome, AD 267-268. GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head to right / SOLI CONS AVG, Pegasus springing to right; A in exergue. RIC V.1 283. 3.15g, 21mm

Few mythical creatures travel better on coins than Pegasus. The winged horse appeared often on ancient coinage long before Gallienus .

On the Zoo Series coin, Pegasus belongs to Sol, the Unconquered Sun . The pairing creates an image of light, ascent, and divine motion. It also fits the military atmosphere of the age. Sol appealed strongly to Roman soldiers, and Gallienus needed soldiers more than almost anything else .

Pegasus may also have carried a regimental echo. Four Roman legions used Pegasus as an emblem, including Legio II Adiutrix, a unit associated with Gallienus' military world .

So this coin works on several levels. It shows myth, honors Sol and may also speak to army loyalty.

Neptune's Hippocamp

Hippocamp / Neptune – Gallienus BI Antoninianus. Rome, AD 267-268. GALLIENVS AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust to right / NEPTVNO CONS AVG, hippocamp to right; N in exergue. RIC V.1 245 (sole reign); MIR 743b; RSC 667. 3.74g, 21mm, 12h.

Neptune's creature brings the sea into the series.

The hippocamp has the forepart of a horse and the tail of a sea serpent or fish. It moves through water as Pegasus moves through the air. On Gallienus' coin, it invokes Neptune, god of the sea .

The creature also gives American collectors a surprising connection. Charles Barber placed a hippocamp on the obverse of the 1915 Panama-Pacific gold quarter eagle. There, Columbia rides the sea-horse as a symbol of American power and the Panama Canal era.

So a tiny third-century antoninianus can point forward to a classic United States commemorative gold coin.

To read the complete article, see:
Zoo Coinage Of Gallienus (https://coinweek.com/zoo-coinage-of-gallienus-coins-from-an-empire-on-the-brink/)

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