TYPE Roman Republic, L Censorinus (moneyer), 82 BC, silver denarius, 3.5 g DESCRIPTION . Obv: Laureate head of Apollo to right Rev: Satyr Marsyas standing to left, raising his right arm, wine-skin over his shoulder, column with surmounted Victory at right, legend: CENSOR REFERENCE: SR 273, Syd 737, Cr 363/1d, Mar 24 GRADING: VF+ / VF, porous ORDER INFO: G1718, $68 Marsyas' double pipe (flute) was an instrument that, according to one legend, Athena discarded, having seen how blowing it disfigures her face; he picked it up, and made himself a master of it. Although most accounts state that he held his own against Apollo in his musical challenge (being even favored by the Muses), in the end the wrath of his divine opponent was severe; he was skinned alive, and is shown here carrying around his skin in the form of a wineskin. However, in Roman times Marsyas also became, though associations with Liber Pater and Libertas, a symbol of civic freedom, and a prominent statue to that effect was erected in the Forum Romanum, of which this reverse is possibly a representation (See Amer. J. Num. 1 (1989), "Marsyas at Corinth" by M. H. Wallbank)