COLLECTING CREATURES
Creating a creature collection using ancient coinage can be done on a relatively tight budget provided you are willing to confine your aspirations to coins in lower grades so far as condition goes. You will also have to limit your menagerie somewhat because there are one or two animals and birds that only appear on rarer coins.
Perhaps you are wondering why the Ancient Greeks, the Romans and other long vanished cultures minted coins displaying images of creatures, sometimes in preference to images of their rulers; or at least obliging the ruler to share the coin’s design and allow ruler and creature to appear on the same coin. The answer often lies in words such as symbolism and personification. Certain
