My First Animal On A Coin.

It is a lovely coin, but unfortunately I don't have one of those.

Interesting coin and ditto background as usual, @Novicius!

My vote would be for a lion. I think I can see a mane behind its neck. Whether advancing or springing, I cannot tell, though.

The stylized bull on this coin caught my eye and the description piqued my interest:
The city of Besancon (Latin: Vesontio), located in Eastern France close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland, sits within an oxbow of the Doubs River (a tributary of the Saone River); a mountain closes the fourth side. During the Bronze Age in the mid-2nd Millennium BC. tribes of Gauls settled the oxbow. From the 1st century BC. onward, the town had a significant military importance because the Alps rise abruptly to its immediate south, presenting a significant natural barrier. The Arar (Saone) River formed part of the border between the Haedui and their hereditary rivals, the Sequani. The Sequani controlled access to the Rhine River and had built an oppidum (a fortified town) at Vesontio to protect their interests. Julius Caesar, in his commentaries detailing his conquest of Gaul, describes Vesontio (possibly Latinized), as the largest town of the Sequani, a smaller Gaulic tribe, and mentions that a wooden palisade surrounded it.

Strabo had a lot to say about the Sequani and the area in general. Below are a few paragraphs from his Geography pertaining to the Sequani:
"The Ædui are said to be related to the Romans, and they were the first to enter into a friendship and alliance with them. On the other side of the Saone dwell the Sequani, who have for long been at enmity with the Romans and Ædui, having frequently allied themselves with the Germans in their incursions into Italy. It was then that they proved their strength, for united to them the Germans were powerful, but when separated, weak. As for the Ædui, their alliance with the Romans naturally rendered them the enemies of the Sequani, but the enmity was increased by their contests concerning the river that divides them, each nation claiming the Saone exclusively for themselves, and likewise the tolls on vessels passing. However, at the present time, the whole of it is under the dominion of the Romans."

"The Saone rises in the Alps, and separates the Sequani, the Ædui, and the Lincasii. It afterwards receives the Doubs, a navigable river which rises in the same mountains, still however preserving its own name, and consiting of the two, mingles with the Rhone. The Rhone in like manner preserves its name, and flows on to Vienne. At their rise these three rivers flow towards the north, then in a westerly direction, afterwards uniting into one they take another turn and flow towards the south, and having received other rivers, they flow in this direction to the sea. Such is the country situated between the Alps and the Rhone."

"Lugdunum itself, situated on a hill, at the confluence of the Saone and the Rhone, belongs to the Romans. It is the most populace city after Narbonne. It carries on a great commerce, and the Roman prefects here coin both gold and silver money. Before this city, at the confluence of the rivers, is situated the temple dedicated by by all the Galatæ in common to Cæsar Augustus. The altar is splendid, and has inscribed on it the names of sixty people, and images of them,one for each, and also another great altar."

"This is the principal city of the nation of the Segusiani who lie between the Rhone and the Doubs. The other nations who extend to the Rhine, are bounded in part by the Doubs, and in part by the Saone. These two rivers, as said before, descend from the Alps, and, falling into one stream, flow into the Rhone. There is likewise another river which has its sources in the Alps, and is names the Seine. It flows parallel with the Rhine, through a nation bearing the same name as itself, and so into the ocean. The Sequani are bounded on the east by the Rhine, and on the opposite side by the Saone. It is from them that the Romans procure the finest salt-pork."

"After the Helvetti, the Sequani and Mediomatrici dwell along the Rhine, amongst whom are the Tribocchi, a German nation who emigrated from their country hither. Mount Jura, which is in the country of the Sequani, separates that people from the Helvetii."

Celtic Coinage. Gaul: Sequanes (The Sequani). c. 80-59 BC. Potin Unit, Besançon (Vesontio).
Obverse: Celticized head left, diademed. Reverse: Bull, tail erect, butting left on ground-line. Bronze. Diameter:19 mm, Weight: 4.62 gr.
Reference: BMC 308. Castelin, SLM (Keltische Münzen: Katalog der Sammlung I'm Schweizerischen Landesmuseum Zürich) 823. LT - (but cf. 5368=obv. / 5401=rev.).

The coin is in very high relief which is not apparent from the images.

Very interesting background - I now know much more about this part of Gaul than I did before - and an interesting coin. The bull looks a bit skinny but elegant, and the tail is impressive. I thought at first this was a result of the artist exercising some creative freedom, but when browsing the Sequani potins available at CGB, I see many examples which have the same depiction of the bull. So there was probably some artistic convention that governed how bulls should be represented in this context.

On the bottom of page 23 of this thread http://goccf.com/t/363454&whichpage=23 I had posted a coin from Mytilene on the island of Lesbos with two boars' heads confronted.

Though the mint is uncertain, I was pleased to find this less easy to find similar one in better condition, and with the ethnic on the obverse. It has a very nice dark, even toning. Graded by Gitbud & Naumann as Good VF.

Lesbos. Lesbian Koinon. Late Archaic Period. c. 478-460 BC. Silver Billon Twelfth-Stater (Obol).
Obverse: Confronted boars' heads, above ΛΕΣ. Reverse: Incuse square of rough form. Silver/billon. Diameter: 10 mm. Weight: 0.89 gr.
Reference: BMC 13-14. Lorenzo Lazzarini (2011) Lesbos Series IV. Babelon Traité pl. XV, 1. Klein, KM 349.

Thanks, guys.

When the coin arrived I was delighted to see how much detail there was on the boars' heads. Once again the sale images didn't do it justice.

Thanks, @chrsmat71.