Roman Republic AR denarius(18.5mm, 3.89g). M. Aemilius Scaurus and P. Plautius Hypsaeus, 58 BC, Rome mint. Camel right; before, kneeling figure, holding reins in left hand and olive-branch tied with fillet in right hand; above, M SCAVR; on either side, EX SC; below, AED CVR. Border of dots / Jupiter in quadriga left, holding reins in left hand and hurling thunderbolt with right hand; above, P HVPSAEVS; AED CVR in two lines. Below, C HVPSAE COS; PREIVER in two lines. On right, CAPTVM upwards. Border of dots. Crawford 422/1a; Aemilia 9; Sydenham 912; Russo RBW 1518.
The obverse of this denarius commemorates the surrender of the Nabataean King Aretas III to Pompey's general M. Aemilius Scaurus in 62 BC. The reverse commemorates a much older event, the capture of Privernum in 329 BC by the second moneyer's ancestor, Gaius Plautius Decianus(The moneyer lists HVPSAEVS but Crawford suggests that this is actually an error made by the moneyer). There are two subtypes of this denarius: the more common 422/1a denarius which has different legends and a scorpion on the reverse, and the scarcer 422/1b variety, pictured here.