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L. Papius. 79 BC. AR Serrate Denarius (19 mm, 3.84 g). Rome mint. Head of Juno Sospita right, wearing goat-skin headdress; jar behind / Griffin springing right; quatrefoil below. Crawford 384/1 (symbols 172); Sydenham 773; Papia 1. VF
Although the moneyer is unknown except for his coins, the coins are very popular with collectors for the interesting controls they display, which according to Crawford "are no more than a random selection of pairs of everyday objects" (p. 399). Papius used two related symbols, one on the obverse die, the other on the reverse, to keep track of production and to control losses amongst the slaves at the mint. Nearly all pairs of controls only have one set of dies.
