A unique Roman coin found by a metal detector which was made by an ancient ‘Del Boy’ forger who could not spell and did not know his emperors. The silver denarius, an average day's pay for a Roman worker, was modelled on coins struck to commemorate the Battle of Actium of 31 BC. The famous battle saw the combined forces of Roman General Mark Antony and Egyptian Queen Cleopatra defeated by Octavian, who went on to rule as Emperor Augustus. The silver denarius was made 2,000 years ago but is a terrible fake, with spelling mistakes and even the wrong Emperor.
Photo: The Roman Del Boy coin.Experts said it was made a few years after Actium but was a terrible fake, probably created from memory by a craftsman who was ‘barely literate’. One face has a crocodile but it is facing the opposite way to the original. Emperor Caesar is on the head side, when it should have been Augustus. And the die cutter misspelled Egypt as Aegipto instead of the common spelling of the time, Aegypto or Aegvpto.
Cleaner Rob Clements, 45, discovered the coin buried two inches beneath the surface on a grass path near Brighton, East Sussex, just months after buying his first metal detector. Sam Moorhead, national finds adviser for Ancient Coins at the British Museum, said nothing like it had ever been seen before, pushing up its value from £100 for the average Roman coin to about £3,000. Mr Moorhead said he was mystified by the motive of the forger, who could not even have made a profit because he struck it from solid silver.
Cleaner Rob Clements, 45, discovered the coin buried two inches beneath the surface on a grass path near Brighton, East Sussex, just months after buying his first metal detector. Sam Moorhead, national finds adviser for Ancient Coins at the British Museum, said nothing like it had ever been seen before, pushing up its value from £100 for the average Roman coin to about £3,000. Mr Moorhead said he was mystified by the motive of the forger, who could not even have made a profit because he struck it from solid silver.
Photo: Rob Clements."Interpreting the coin is difficult. Were it a silver-plated piece, then it would have been explicable as an attempt to create a coin for profit by using a smaller amount of silver. However, why would someone create a fantasy piece like this in the ancient period from solid silver? As such, the coin is a mystery, " Mr Moorhead said.
Mr Clements now plans to sell the coin to fund a study course on the Romans at the University of Brighton, where he works. Mr Clements registered the find with the finds liaison officer for Sussex, who sent photos and results of Brighton University tests to the British Museum for analysis.
Mr Clements now plans to sell the coin to fund a study course on the Romans at the University of Brighton, where he works. Mr Clements registered the find with the finds liaison officer for Sussex, who sent photos and results of Brighton University tests to the British Museum for analysis.
Source: Mailonline
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