Find Spot: Not known

Date of Illustration: 75-79 BCE

***Description:***Karnyx on coin of L. Papius showing instrument beneath sphinx. The coin tells a little of how the karnyx was seen by Romans. It was created by a moneyer, who marked his coins L. Papius, and produced over 230 varieties, each carrying different symbols which represented current Roman trades[^3]. One of these contained a karnyx on both its obverse and reverse sides. It is suggested that this coin is representing the military, indicating that the karnyx was seen at that time as being closely associated with the military, on account of the currently-high volume of military activity. It also shows that the military regarded the karnyx as the quinissential symbol of their adversaries.

Citations: Sydenham proposed that the symbols represent trade guilds (collegia opificum) in "Symbols on Denarii of L. Papius and L. Roscius",Numismatic Chronicle, 1931, pp 1-13

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