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Rare Coin Find Stuns Historians
Ananova ^ | 2-25-2004

Posted on 02/24/2004 5:12:49 PM PST by blam

Rare coin find stuns historians

A man with a metal detector has unearthed a Roman bronze coin so rare it bears the face of a mystery emperor who "ruled" Britain for a matter of days.

Brian Malin, from Oxfordshire, found it in a field in the county.

It bears the face of Emperor Domitianus and is only the second coin ever found which bears the image of the self-proclaimed ruler of Britain and France in 271AD.

A similar coin was found in France 100 years ago but until now its uniqueness had meant both Emperor Domitianus and the coin were dismissed as a hoax.

Historians say the British discovery confirms the French find is genuine and Domitianus existed.

They believe he was an upstart from the Roman legion who was ousted for treason for daring to declare himself emperor and have the coins made.

Mr Malin found the coin in a field 10 miles south-east of Oxford.

The coin was among a pot of 5,000 all bearing the heads of emperors and stuck together, providing the perfect "timeline" for archaeologists.

He handed his find to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford which passed it to experts at the British Museum who began separating the coins.

The coins dating from 250AD to the mid 270sAD spanned five emperors during a time of great upheaval for the Roman empire.

The Domitianus coin is going on display at the British Museum.

Story filed: 18:13 Tuesday 24th February 2004


TOPICS: News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: archaeology; artifacts; coin; domitianus; epigraphyandlanguage; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; historians; history; museum; numismatics; rare; romanempire; stuns
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To: blam
"My daughter just got a 1937 penny in change the other day!"

I got a 1906 Indian Head penny in chaange at the 7-11 last week!
41 posted on 02/24/2004 6:54:58 PM PST by Neanderthal
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To: Enterprise
I used to watch that with my great grandmother back when I was a little girl.
42 posted on 02/24/2004 6:56:30 PM PST by BunnySlippers (Help Bring Colly-fornia Back ...)
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To: Moonman62
"According to your article the coins must be gold or silver. This guy is screwed. I can only imagine how much that coin must be worth."

No. It says treasure other than coinage must be gols or silver.

43 posted on 02/24/2004 6:56:43 PM PST by Neanderthal
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To: Joee
Are they dated BC? That has a big effect on price.
44 posted on 02/24/2004 6:57:56 PM PST by Quick Shot
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To: blam
2. DOMITIANUS (CA. A.D. 270/271)

Domitianus was proclaimed emperor at the beginning of Aurelian's reign, but killed soon afterwards [[45]]. His rebellion seems to have been the result of the barbaric invasions at the beginning of Aurelian's reign (see above chapter 1.4.) [[46]]. He perhaps is to be identified with the general Domitianus who is said to have defeated the Macriani about A.D. 261 [[47]]. The only coin minted in the name of Domitianus is probably a forgery [[48]].

45 posted on 02/24/2004 6:58:30 PM PST by blam
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To: SavageRepublican
ping
46 posted on 02/24/2004 7:00:21 PM PST by rface (Ashland, Missouri)
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To: blam
Darn! I wish I had found it.
47 posted on 02/24/2004 7:01:21 PM PST by Ditter
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To: blam
Thanks for posting this. I find this fascinating.
48 posted on 02/24/2004 7:06:28 PM PST by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
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To: blam
If they found two so far, then 99 remain of the 101 Domitianus.
49 posted on 02/24/2004 7:10:04 PM PST by Consort
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To: blam
 
 
You may have hit the jackpot.   Take a look here.
 
These are mostly sports cards autographed, but they are getting a nice price.
 
On E-bay, you put the item up for sale , and the bids take it to who knows where.
 
If you need some help or advice, freepmail me.  I'll see if I can get some answers.
 
Bob

50 posted on 02/24/2004 7:15:19 PM PST by Lokibob (All typos and spelling errors are mine and copyrighted!!!!)
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To: BunnySlippers
I used to watch "Queen For a Day" too. That was because my mom was much bigger than me, we had one TV - black and white - and there were no remote controls back then.
51 posted on 02/24/2004 7:35:37 PM PST by Enterprise ("Do you know who I am?")
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To: Ronaldus Magnus Reagan
Later, Domitianus tried for success on "Survivor," but he lost that too. They tossed him off the island - in pieces! The penalties for losing were a little tougher then.
52 posted on 02/24/2004 7:38:14 PM PST by Enterprise ("Do you know who I am?")
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To: SamAdams76
The Romans didn't have much sympathy for subway cheats either. People who tried to get into the tunnel for free were fed to the lions. It is where we get the term "tokenism."
53 posted on 02/24/2004 7:40:16 PM PST by Enterprise ("Do you know who I am?")
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To: LibWhacker
He handed his find to the Ashmolean Museum

Man, sounds like he won't get a dime for it.

When asked to comment on the coin, a Ashmolean Museum representative stated 'What coin?'

54 posted on 02/24/2004 7:40:18 PM PST by CommandoFrank (If GW is the terrorist's worst nightmare, Kerry is their wet dream...)
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To: Consort
"If they found two so far, then 99 remain of the 101 Domitianus."

LOL!

55 posted on 02/24/2004 7:41:43 PM PST by Enterprise ("Do you know who I am?")
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To: Consort
"He perhaps is to be identified with the general Domitianus who is said to have defeated the Macriani about A.D. 261."

I guess he didn't like dancing the Macriani either.

56 posted on 02/24/2004 7:44:58 PM PST by Enterprise ("Do you know who I am?")
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To: Enterprise
Friends, Romans, numismatists.....
57 posted on 02/24/2004 7:49:39 PM PST by Consort
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To: blam
Right after 9/11 I did several weeks of guard duty at my state's main National Guard military reservation. I won't go into details, but it is on the Atlantic coast.

We have a law in this state that all public construction must be preceded by an "archaeological survey" of the site, that is, before the power-shovels move in, an archaeological team must dig around and determine the "value" of the site. Is it an indian burial ground? A forgotten colonial village? Etc. etc.

Anyway, here we are just post-9/11 and some new buildings are being plotted on Camp (name omitted.) A survey is being undertaken on the site by a professor-emeritus of an Ivy university not far away, and two grad students. After 9/11, Threatcon C is announced and the installation "centralizes" parking of vehicles in a lot just inside the main gate. The "surveyors" from Ivy U. must hump their gear a half-mile over a not-too-gentle parade field to the survey site. And they've got a lot of gear.

One chilly morning in October, driving my guard vehicle (a CUCV Blazer,) I offered the grad-student of the day a lift over to the dig site. She could put her wheelbarrow, shovels, sieves, trowels, etc in the back and I would truck her right over there. Well, sir, she gave me a look such as I hadn't seen since I got back from Vietnam to San Francisco Int'l Airport in August of '66! It was as if I had lice crawling out of my eyebrows! So I retired from the scene, vowing not to extend myself to these birds again.

The next night, still feeling the sting of her scorn, and perhaps a little vindictive, I drove by the dig-site in the light of the moon: there it was -- three or four trenches about a yard wide and six to ten feet long, dug at odd angles. A mound of spoil marked where the diggers had shoveled and sieved three or four feet deep of the sand and underlying clay. Hmm -- they were down to the clay.

When I was part of the Sinai peacekeeping force (MFO) a few years earlier, I had occasion to go to Israel a few times. In Jerusalem, I had bought a bunch of cheap souvenirs, some of which I still had -- in fact, I had a little plastic bag of six or eight bronze Phonecian/Roman coin replicas. Jeez, they really looked like the real thing! So what could bring more excitement to these proceedings of the archaeologists than to find something a little... special? So -- it was only natural that on my next circuit of the post, I got out and planted a few bronze "surprises" for them to come up with. Haven't heard anything since, but you really don't know: these academics play things close to the chest. We may never know if they found them until the the next Nobel Prizes are announced!

58 posted on 02/24/2004 7:51:47 PM PST by Snickersnee (Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket???)
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To: Quick Shot
Are they dated BC? That has a big effect on price.

It's best to remove the "BC," as well as the "made in China" stamp, prior to appraisal.

59 posted on 02/24/2004 7:51:58 PM PST by sphinx
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To: blam
Found this on an ancient coin forum:

"The original Domitianus antoninianus (RIC V.2, pl. XX.12) was defended as unquestionably authentic by Marcus Weder in Swiss Numismatic Review 76, 1997. The two coins seem to be from very similar, but not the same obverse die."

60 posted on 02/24/2004 8:01:23 PM PST by u-89
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