Elephants on coins

[Afrasi]

Here are some older elephants on a copper drachme minted 122/123 at Alexandria. This coin showing Hadrian with an elephant's quadriga isn't in the best grade, but really nice pieces of this drachme are financially by far out of reach for me ...
The "L S" above them can be translated to "reign year 6"

[Figleaf]

An elephant quadriga. Spectacular. Roman emperors liked a good show. History books are full of awe about Hannibal's war elephants, surprising the Roman legions. I wonder how big the surprise really was. Here is a coin commemorating Alexander's campaigns in India, struck in Babylon around 323 BC, about a century before Hannibal.

Obv: Alexander standing, being crowned as victor by Nike.
Rev: Greek rider, possibly Alexander, attacking an Indian battle-elephant, possibly during the battle against Porus.

[Afrasi]

An elephant quadriga. Spectacular. Roman emperors liked a good show.

In 79 BC Pompeius Magnus was the first Roman imitating Alexander the Great, who tried to enter Rome with an elephant quadriga, but the Porta Triumphalis was too small. So he had to use horses again.

Actually Hadrian never did it, too. The first emperor entering Rome in an elephant quadriga was Severus Alexander widening the Porta at first.

[<k>]

Carthage: silver double shekel, circa 230 BC. British Museum, London.

The Punic (Carthaginian) god Melqart is shown on the obverse (front) of the coin. He is depicted resembling the Greek hero Herakles with a club over his shoulder. On the reverse is a war elephant, as used by Hannibal in his great campaign against Rome.

[WillieBoyd2]

This coin has an elephant on it:



India 1 Rupee 2003 - Railways
150 Glorious Years / Bholu, The Guard

[Abhay]

I am surprised that this thread is going on since Aug 2009, but no one has posted any Elephant coin from Mysore, India. Most of the copper coins from Mysore depict an Elephant on the Obverse of the coin. The Elephant is shown in all the varieties - to the left, to the right, Trunk up, trunk down etc.

Here is one such coin from Mysore Princely State (20 Cash Copper Coin).

Abhay

[Figleaf]

Wow! If I had ever seen this one on sale, I'd have fallen for it. The elephant and the decorative denomination in English are superb, engipress and this is such a wonderfully preserved coin. Glad you showed it.

Peter

[Bimat]

Indeed that's a museum quality piece. Thanks for posting.

Aditya

[Coinsforever]

Here is one such coin from Mysore Princely State (20 Cash Copper Coin).

The coin posted here is one of the gem from Mysore.
 (I'm not at all comparing it with ugly fake coins being  offered for sale on ebay)

Despite  passing through longer period of history ,  still the glow /luster of coin is marvelous .

Cheers

[Figleaf]

Came across this dazzling beauty from the Geldmuseum: stater of Ptolemaios I, c. 300-298 BC, Cyrene. The elephant quadriga wasn't Hadrian's idea after all...

Peter

[<k>]

China. London.

[chrisild]

Looks interesting indeed. Too bad it pretends to be a coin.

Here is another sort-of-coin: a €10 collector piece from Spain showing a "Hispano-Carthagenic" 1.5 shekel coin from the third century BC. Image: FNMT (Spanish Mint). And some more elephants are here ... http://www.tesorillo.com/juegos/1_07.htm#eg

Christian

[<k>]

I think, Darfur it's not.

[<k>]

Congo Democratic Republic. One of various gold coins struck to celebrate its 5th anniversary in 1965. Most were melted down after the downfall of President Kasa-Vubu.  See also: Zaire, and the many faces of Mobutu.

[bart]

2 circulation pieces from Ceylon: the first is a 1/48 rixdollar 1802, the latter a stiver from 1815.