All change! Ancient coin proves Roman emperor was real

Latin currency now ‘genuine’.. so is ruler

AN ancient coin has proved that a third century Roman emperor did really exist.

Historians had previously written off Emperor Sponsian as a fictional character.

A coin bearing his name and his portrait was found more than 300 years ago. Believed to be a fake, it was locked away in a museum cupboard.

Now scientists say that scratch marks prove it was in circulation almost 2,000 years ago.

Prof Paul Pearson, of University College London, said: “We have found an emperor. He was a figure thought to have been a fake.

“But we think he was real and that he had a role in history.”

The coin was discovered in 1713

and was believed to be a genuine Roman one until the mid-19th century, when experts suspected that its crude design meant it was a forgery.

The final blow came in 1863 when Henry Cohen, the leading coin expert of the time, said it was “ridiculously imagined”.

Other specialists agreed, and Sponsian was dismissed as fiction.

Prof Pearson recently saw photos of the coin and could make out scratches on its surface.

He contacted the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow University, where it was stored. A powerful microscope confirmed scratches consistent with it being jingled around in purses.

Researchers believe Sponsian was a military commander who became emperor of the most distant province of the Roman empire, called Dacia.

The coin is currently on display at the Hunterian.

TREASURE Sponsian on coin