I have a few L. Papius denarii and bought this one recently. Can anyone make a stab at what these symbols are? Can anyone explain the surface issues on the obverse? Could it be unofficial? L Papius Denarius Serratus, Papia 1, Sym. var. RRC ? Obv:– Head of Juno Sospita right, wearing goat skin tied under chin. Behind head, ??? Rev:– Gryphon running right; in ex., L. PAPI.; in field, ??? Minted in Rome from . B.C. 79. Reference(s) – RSC Papia 1. RRC 384/1. RCTV 311. Symbol variety – RRC ?. Babelon ?. BMCRR ?. 2.95 g. 19.46 mm. 90 degrees Martin
Martin, take a look at this fantastic resource for the series. https://www.bonannocoins.com/l_papius/l_papius_db.php Some of my previous coins are listed.
This one took me a while to figure out - the hammer was obvious, but that thing is a chisel on the obverse. The link @Jay GT4 provided was how I figured it out. For the attribution I included the "trade guild" part - my goal is to get all the varieties. Roman Republic Denarius L. Papius (79 B.C.) Rome Mint Trade Guild: Carpenters Head of Juno Sospita right, wearing goat's skin; chisel behind / L PAPI in ex. Gryphon springing right; hammer below. Crawford 384/1, type 30; Sydenham 773; Papia 1. (3.60 grams / 17 mm)
I assume you've looked at all the Crawford drawings in Tables LXVI-LXVII to see if there's anything similar. The symbol on the obverse looks to me like it might be a key, with the teeth at the top facing right. But I could easily be seeing something that isn't there.
Many thanks all. I have been through the Crawford plates, I have been through the Babelon plates, I have been through all the examples in the BM online. I will have to park it as an unknown at the moment and wait for a better example to come along and see if it helps with the identification of the symbols.
That's a hard one to identify Martin, nothing that I can see as obvious in the Mattingly drawings from RRC. FYI - a nice note with some examples and reference from Liv Yarrow: Papius’ Pairs. I see some reddish coloring - possibly a fourre?
