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Source Description
The lion, king of the beasts and an animal associated with regal and heroic power, featured prominently on the coinage of many ancient Greek city-states. Artists placed the lion in a variety of poses, sometimes including the whole body, at other times the foreparts or just the head. Although it may once have roamed nearby, for many Greeks the lion was a monster nearly as exotic as the Chimaera, of which it formed a part, together with a goat head and snake-headed tail.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
98332
label
Tetradrachm: Head of Apollo (obverse); Head of Lion (reverse)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
98332
contentType
object
title
Tetradrachm: Head of Apollo (obverse); Head of Lion (reverse)
description
The lion, king of the beasts and an animal associated with regal and heroic power, featured prominently on the coinage of many ancient Greek city-states. Artists placed the lion in a variety of poses, sometimes including the whole body, at other times the foreparts or just the head. Although it may once have roamed nearby, for many Greeks the lion was a monster nearly as exotic as the Chimaera, of which it formed a part, together with a goat head and snake-headed tail.
date
466–422 BCE
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79483798
genreSpecific
Coins
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Diameter: 2.5 cm (1 in.)
cul
Greek, minted at Leontinoi (Sicily)
accession
1917.988
Source extras
tec
silver
tombstone
Tetradrachm: Head of Apollo (obverse); Head of Lion (reverse), 466–422 BCE. Greek, minted at Leontinoi (Sicily). Silver; diameter: 2.5 cm (1 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust, 1917.988
collection
GR - Greek
inscriptions
inscription
[ΛΕ]Ο[ΝΤ]ΙΝΟΝ
inscription_translation
Of the people of Leontinoi
inscription_remark
Reverse
didYouKnow
The lion on coins of Leontini marks a pun on the city name.
citations
citation
"Accessions." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 4, no. 4 (1917): 64-67.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 64
creditline
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
updatedAt
2026-05-29 05:18:29.731000
sourceId
98332
dept
Greek and Roman Art
coll
GR - Greek
med
silver
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
8f393b5e70fda9c9