What is this Centaur Holding?

[Roman Collector]

Nobody can seem to figure out what it is that this centaur is carrying. RIC calls this object a trophy; Sear calls it a rudder; Cohen calls it arrows. What do you think it is?

Gallienus, 253-268 CE.
Roman AE Antoninianus; 19 mm, 2.7 g.
Rome, 8th officina, 267-268 CE.
Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right.
Rev: APOLLINI CONS AVG, Centaur walking left, holding globe and some doohickey; H in exergue.
Refs: RIC 164; Cohen 73; RCV 10178.

[Kali]

Big Meatball and spaghetti noodles.

[shanxi]

IMHO rudder.

A trophy contains pieces of armour or other pieces taken from an enemy, arrows are usually in a quiver, but a rudder is typically represented like this (three lines, a longer central line and two shorter lines, sometimes curved), albeit here upside down. Also globe and rudder are also often found together as symbol of  Fortuna.

rudder and globe:

Faustina Senior
Denarius after 141
Obv.: DIVA FAVSTINA, veiled bust right
Rev.: AETERNITAS, Fortuna standing left, holding globe and rudder
Ag, 3.43g, 18.6mm
Ref.: RIC 348b, C 6, RCV 4577, CRE 97 [R]

 

Edited September 17, 2023 by shanxi

[ambr0zie]

Reversed rudder. This subject was debated on CT and this was the correct answer. 

My example

[John Conduitt]

4 hours ago, shanxi said:

IMHO rudder.

A trophy contains pieces of armour or other pieces taken from an enemy, arrows are usually in a quiver, but a rudder is typically represented like this (three lines, a longer central line and two shorter lines, sometimes curved), albeit here upside down. Also globe and rudder are also often found together as symbol of  Fortuna.

rudder and globe:

Faustina Senior
Denarius after 141
Obv.: DIVA FAVSTINA, veiled bust right
Rev.: AETERNITAS, Fortuna standing left, holding globe and rudder
Ag, 3.43g, 18.6mm
Ref.: RIC 348b, C 6, RCV 4577, CRE 97 [R]

 

Yes it seems this has been thought about before. It's definitely not a trophy but presumably in 1927 they didn't have any clear examples.

Edited September 17, 2023 by John Conduitt

[Ryro]

Great coin RC! Though, your Faustina has a shocking amount of neck beard showing. 

Nice guesses folks but clearly it's a frontal view of the Tall man's death ball from Phantasm:

Those centaurs were stone cold horror villains. 

Here's mine:

Gallienus 253-268 CE. AE antoninianus (20 mm, 2.98 g, 1 h). Gallienus Zoo series. Rome mint, A.D. 267/8. GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head of Gallienus right / APOLLINI CONS AVG, centaur walking left, raising left front hoof and holding globe and rudder // H. RIC 164; RSC 98. 

Edited September 17, 2023 by Ryro

[LONGINUS]

Great coin, @Roman Collector!

My Sagittarian heritage compels me to vote for arrows.

[Marsyas Mike]

Heck if I know what he's holding.  My guess is rudder and globe - but I'm really guessing on the rudder part.  Here's mine:

[DLTcoins]

I have to go with globe and trophy. Compare this nicely struck example with the familiar image of Mars carrying spear and trophy (images courtesy CNG).

Edited September 18, 2023 by DLTcoins

[Theodosius]

Bagpipes...

[David Atherton]

With a globe in one hand only a rudder would make sense in the other. I'm sure the engravers were struggling with this awkward composition!

[DonnaML]

@Roman Collector, I 100% agree that it's a reversed rudder. Here's my example:

Gallienus, Billon Antoninianus, 267-268 AD, Rome Mint, 8th Officina, 10th emission (Göbl and Reinhardt). Obv. Radiate head right, GALLIENVS AVG / Rev. Centaur walking left holding a globe in extended right hand and a reversed rudder in left hand, with right front leg lifted, APOLLINI CONS AVG; H [Eta = 8th Officina] in exergue.  RIC V-1 164, RSC IV 73 (ill.), Sear RCV III 10178, Wolkow 1a8 [Cédric Wolkow, Catalogue des monnaies romaines - Gallien - L'émission dite "Du Bestiaire" - atelier de Rome (BNumis, édition 2019)]; Göbl MIR [Moneta Imperii Romani] Band 36, No. 738b, ill. at http://www258.pair.com/denarius/coinage.htm (Ed Flinn's site) & in Reinhardt [Frank Reinhardt, José de Sousa, & Heidemarie Bieker, Gallienvs Antoninianii, The Antoninianii Collection of Gallienus by Frank Reinhardt (Eng. trans. 2022), available at https://www.academia.edu/77282280/GALLIENUS_ANTONINIANII_English_version_PDF ] at p. 133, no. 2. 20 mm., 3.42 g., 12 h. 

[John Conduitt]

Here's a similar question. Is Ceres holding a torch or a sceptre? I'm guessing it should always be a torch, but RIC changes its mind half way through...

Spot the difference
Ceres standing left, holding corn ears, poppy, and sceptre (RIC II.1 Vespasian 1025)
Ceres standing left, holding corn-ears and torch (RIC II.1 Titus 67)

Edited September 19, 2023 by John Conduitt

[DonnaML]

4 minutes ago, John Conduitt said:

Here's a similar question. Is Ceres holding a torch or a sceptre? I'm guessing it should always be a torch, but RIC changes it's mind half way through...

Spot the difference
Ceres standing left, holding corn ears, poppy, and sceptre (RIC II.1 Vespasian 1025)
Ceres standing left, holding corn-ears and torch (RIC II.1 Titus 67)

This reminds me of  the many types for which the authorities can't agree on whether a particular personification or deity holds a long scepter or a reversed spear.