Roman republic - denarius L. Papius griffin 79 BC (ME2643)

L. Papius. Denarius serratus 79, AR 3.7 g. 19 mm Head of Juno Sospita r.; behind, crook. Rev. Gryphon leaping r.; below, mask. In exergue, L·PAPI. Babelon Papia 1. Sydenham 773. RBW –. Crawford 384/1 and symbol, pl. LXVI, 69.

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.