Find Spot: Not known

Date of Illustration: 75-79 BCE

Description: Mouthpiece on coin of L. Papius showing mouthpiece beneath sphinx. This coin tells a little of how the brass 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[^4]. One of these contained a mouthpiece on the reverse side and, on the obverse, the head of a soldier, along with the image of a sword in its sheath. It is suggested that this coin is representing the military, indicating that the brass was seen at that time as being closely associated with the military.

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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