Crawford 239/1, Roman Republic, 136 BC., moneyer Caius Servilius, Denarius

Roman Republic (Pome mint 136 BC.), moneyer Caius Servilius M.f. . “Caius Servilius Marci filius”, (Caius Servilius son of Marcus)
Denarius (20-21 mm, 3,83 g), silver, axis irregular alignment ?? (ca. 270°),
Obv.: Helmeted head of Roma to right, wearing winged helmet ornamented with gryphon's head; hair in close falling locks; the visor in three pieces and peaked; behind, wreath and; below, XVI monogram (value mark, 16 As, almost off-flan) and R[OMA].
Rev.: The Dioscuri (the twins Castor and Pollux), on horseback, riding in opposite directions and looking back at each other. They are cuirassed with the coat floating over the shoulder, wearing a cap surmounted by a star, each holding a transverse javelin, in exergue, C•SERVEILI•M•F .
Crawford 239/1. Syd. 525 ; Bab. Servilia 1 .
Some traces of restrike or undertype.

C. Serveilius M.f. C.n. was one of the moneyers for the year 136 BC. He is not otherwise known. The gens Servilia was a patrician family at ancient Rome. The gens was celebrated during the early ages of the Republic, and the names of few gentes appear more frequently at this period in the consular Fasti. It continued to produce men of influence in the state down to the latest times of the Republic, and even in the imperial period.
For this type Crawford estimated 103 obverse dies and 129 reverse dies. It is the first time that the value mark XVI appeares on a denarius, modifying the value of the denarius from 10 to 16 aces, without altering the weight or title, corresponding to a devaluation of around 40%.

Castor and Pollux are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri. Their mother was Leda (an Aetolian princess who became a Spartan queen), but they had different fathers; Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, while Pollux was the divine son of Zeus, who raped Leda in the guise of a swan.
From the 5th century BCE onwards, the brothers were revered by the Romans, probably as the result of cultural transmission via the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia in southern Italy.
The Romans believed that the twins aided them on the battlefield. The construction of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, located in the Roman Forum at the heart of their city, was undertaken to fulfill a vow (votum) made by Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis in gratitude at the Roman victory in the Battle of Lake Regillus in 495 BCE. Their role as horsemen made them particularly attractive to the Roman equites and cavalry. Each year on July 15, Feast Day of the Dioskouroi, 1,800 equestrians would parade through the streets of Rome in an elaborate spectacle in which each rider wore full military attire and whatever decorations he had earned.