Gold coin proves Roman Emperor lost to history did exist
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The face of Sponsian the first, dismissed by experts in the nineteenth century. Researchers have now established that he was a lost Roman emperor.
For centuries, this gold coin, bearing the name of 'Sponsian', was believed to be a fake.
Written out of history, this Roman emperor was thought to never have existed.
However scientists say scratch marks visible under a microscope prove it was in circulation as a real coin, for a real emperor, 2,000 years ago.
"He was a figure written off by the experts," said Prof Paul Pearson who lead the research.
"But we think he was real and that he had a role in history."
Where was the coin found?
The ruins of the Roman fort which was headquarters of the Roman military in Transylvania from where Sponsian ruled.
The coin was discovered more than 300 years ago in Transylvania... land that was once part of the Roman empire.
In 1713, it was believed it to be a genuine roman coin. But by the mid-19th Century it was dismissed as a fake by lots of coin experts because of the poor design, who suspected it to have been made by forgers.
With so many specialists in agreement, Sponsian was lost to history as a 'fake' emperor.
But Prof Pearson from University College London thought this needed more investigation and approached the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow University where the coin had been locked away all this time, along with three others.
Together they examined the coins under a powerful microscope and found they were scratched, with patterns that represented the movement of coins scratching together in a purse or pocket.
This would suggest that these coins were in circulation, being used as real money to pay for goods and services, just like the coins we have today.
Who was 'Sponsian'?
Under a powerful microscope, researchers saw scratch marks caused by the coins being in circulation
So if these coins were being used as real money, then Sponsian must be real too, right?
Researchers believe Sponsian was a military commander who was in charge of a distant roman province called Dacia.
Surrounded by enemies and cut off from the Rome due to civil war and a pandemic, its thought Sponsian crowned himself as emperor to try and protect the military and civilians living there amongst all the chaos.
In order to create a functioning economy in the province they decided to mint their own coins.
"They may not have known who the actual emperor was because there was civil war," says Prof Pearson.
"But what they needed was a supreme military commander in the absence of real power from Rome. He took command at a period when command was needed."
This theory would explain why these coins have not been discovered anywhere else.
Prof Pearson and the team behind this new discovery hope that these results will see Sponsian finally accepted into the scientific community and restore Sponsian as a true figure in history.