26
3034
L. Papius. Silver Denarius (4.01 g), 79 BC.
Rome. Head of Juno Sospita right,
wearing goat’s skin headdress; behind, pelta.
Reverse:
L PAPI in exergue, grif-
fin springing right; below, axe. Crawford 384/1 (symbols 121); Sydenham 773;
Papia 1. Boldly struck and lustrous. Another amazing example.
Nearly Mint
State.
The Romans were masters of most branches of craft and technology,
and the symbols on this coin of L. Papius were specialized tools used in
the tanning industry: the pelta, a sort of scraper-knife, and the axe.
Leather was of course an everyday necessity for the Romans. While the
purpose which these tools had is probably not readily apparent to most
of us today, it was surely obvious to any Roman who held this coin.
Estimated Value ..............................................................................$1,000 - 1,500
Ex Tkalec (8 September 2008), 122.
3035
Cn. Lentulus. Silver Denarius (4.01 g), 74 BC.
Uncertain mint in
Spain. G P R above, diademed and draped bust of the Genius of the
Roman People right, scepter over shoulder.
Reverse:
CN LEN Q in
exergue, EX S C across field, scepter, globe, and rudder. Crawford
393/1a; Sydenham 752; Cornelia 54. Boldly struck and lustrous
with delicate golden toning.
Nearly Mint State.
Here we follow Harlan’s revised dating to 74 BC as opposed to
Crawford’s 76 BC for this issue (see M. Harlan, Roman Republican
Moneyers and Their Coins, 81 BCE-64 BCE, 2012, pp. 83-91). The
revised date is based on the slight down-dating of the terminus
of the Roncofreddo hoard as evidenced by the Mesagne hoard,
Cn. Lentulus’ own cursus honorem which makes a date for this
issue in 75 too early, and most importantly a letter from Pom-
pey to the Senate in Rome requesting money to pay his troops.
The letter from Pompey was recorded by Sallust (2.98), and was
read before the Senate in January of 74. In it, Pompey states that
he had already exhausted his own (considerable) personal re-
sources and even gone into debt supporting his troops, yet they
had only been paid for one year of service while they
had already served for three. He threatened that if the Sen-
ate did not provide the necessary funds to pay his troops he
would not only be unable to pursue the war against Sertori-
us, but that he would likely lose control of his legions and the
war could be brought to Italy itself. With these dire warnings,
the Senate found the money to pay Pompey’s troops, autho-
rizing Cn. Lentulus, ex senatus consulto, to strike the coins.
The year following this issue Cn. Lentulus struck an identical is-
sue employing the same designs but with the unusual legend
LENT CVR x FL, Curator denariorum flandorum. He did so be-
cause he was no longer quaestor with the responsibility of is-
suing coins to pay the troops, nor for that matter was he even
a mint magistrate (thus the designation III VIR would not apply
either), yet he was still responsible for making sure there was suf-
ficient specie to finance military operations. We do not know if
this title was official and had come from the Senate in Rome or
if Lentulus merely invented the title to indicate his responsibility.
Estimated Value............................................................... $600 - 700
Ex NAC 51 (5 March 2009), 31; NAC 33 (6 April 2006), 257.
