Around the middle of the 2nd century BC, the Roman moneyers began to mark the coins of their emissions with certain symbols. This enabled quality controls, as it was now possible to trace the man responsible for the issue of a certain coin series.
This denarius bears the abbreviation SAR beneath the chariot driven by the goddess Victoria on its reverse. The initials supposedly denote Sextus Atilius Serranus, who would later – in 136 BC – become Consul of Rome.
The obverse features the head of Roma, the goddess and personification of Rome, wearing a winged attic helmet. Behind her is the mark X for the denarius' value of 10 asses.