Rare Coin Find Stuns Historians

Ananova ^ | 2-25-2004

[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

[blam]

Thanks, that isn't hardly worth messing with. I'll put it back in the 'junk' drawer and leave it to my son when I die.

[unixfox]

I own several gold and silver coins going back to early AD and BC.

Just curious, but how do you know they where BC?

[Tempest]

So does the finder get any money for this?

[blam]

"Haven't heard anything since, but you really don't know: these academics play things close to the chest."

Leave the archaeologists alone, lol.

My son and I used to take two weeks each Christmas an traipse around the Yucatan. One year we rented a vehicle and drove into the boonies as far as we could go and then backpacked in another two days.
We came across an active archaeological site. No-one was there...it looked like they just walked away for Christmas leaving all their instruments and things spread around under a big tent. We didn't bother anything but, we did leave a big sign saying "Merry Christmas, Santa was here." LOL (I won't tell you about the scary times we got lost and once we spotted some smugglers, etc.)

[blam]

"So does the finder get any money for this?"

See my post #12.

[Tempest]

Ahhh thanks for the info.

[Lokibob]

You are probably right. From what I saw, most on auction have a Certificate of Authenticity, and how you would get that is beyond me.

You might consider putting it in a cheap frame instead of the junk drawer.

Perhaps your son will be on "The Antiques Road Show" in 60 years.

[u-89]

This is a lousy picture of a picture from an old book but this is the first found example.

[scott7278]

I wondered where I dropped it...

[Calvin Locke]

I want one!!!!

Sheesh. Give the guys at the Franklin Mint some time.

[mylife]

It never ceases to amaze me what has go as unknown

[mylife]

gone

[Calvin Locke]

Did thay have good quality steel by the 3rd century?

I doubt it. Saw a History Channel piece on the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

Steel armor (the French) was a new development and in use, but the English arrow tips were still iron.

[BradyLS]

Well, big deal! My daughter just got a 1937 penny in change the other day!

That's cool! One can still find nickels minted in the 50's. Probably because there's no silver in them. When I was in junior high, all silver coinage before 1964, except nickels, disappeared from circulation as folks found and sold them for their silver content.

[BradyLS]

Darn! I wish I had found it.

Heh. Wonder upon whose property Mr. Metaldetector found the coin?

[zook]

I wish I'd kept all those silver coins I used to get. I did keep quite a few, but not enough! Now I know that a couple times in the past 10 years I got either a silver quarter, dime, or war nickle in change. Once when I was kid (around 1964) I got a 1909 VDB in change!

[Prodigal Son]

I imagine you could dig up a lot of stuff with a metal detector here in the UK.

[rface]

I own several gold and silver coins going back to early AD and BC. I have no idea of their current worth, but would like to find out. How does one go about it?????

ebay - search using roman coin - or if you know how to attribute the coin, you can enter the name of the emperor. My wife and I are collecting old roman coins these days

[rface]

Just curious, but how do you know they where BC?

by who the emperor is on the "heads" side of the coin. There are extensive catalogues of Roman coinage and they are easily dated (if you can read some Latin and/or Greek)

[Rockpile]

I reckon that stamping out the coins is too modern of an invention. I suppose that they were cast instead. May have had brass or bronze molds.