A new analysis of ancient Roman coins that had previously been dismissed as forgeries has revealed that they appear to be authentic, revealing a previously unknown Roman emperor.Ĭoins that serve as the sole remaining proof of the existence of the fictitious Roman emperor Sponsian have been discovered to be genuine 3rd-century issues. They now want to discover the method, skillset and scale of operation of the ancient counterfeiters.History is littered with artifacts that were later discovered to be forgeries, but the opposite can also occur. Most of the denarii found are corroded, making it hard to assess their originality. The archaeologists suspect, that even one fourth of the coins found in Poland could be fake, though it is hard to estimate the forgery’s scale. These are too small differences to be easily captured by an ordinary coin user assessing the authenticity of the money he traded.Īfter discovering workshops in which false denarii were produced, archeologists from the University of Warsaw have been analysing the coins produced outside of the empire in today’s Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. Therefore, the coins were slightly different in appearance and weight, even by 1-1.5 grams. The coins were individual pieces of art, minted with hand-made stamps. However, the everyday ancient shopper would have a hard time telling the real money from the fake. The fake coins are slightly different in appearance and weight, even by 1-1.5 grams. We suppose that it is only a matter of time before we find them in Poland.” “In recent years, several workshops were discovered in Ukraine, in which false denarii were produced. Myzgin said: "We believe that in the first centuries of our era, in the east of the Empire, the exchange of goods using money - denarii - took place more often than it was thought. The coins were silver plated or made of an alloy that was supposed to resemble silver.' Kyrylo Myzgin/Facebookĭr. Kyrylo Myzgin (pictured) who are looking into the case told PAP: 'It turned out that some of them are fake. The findings suggest that Roman coins were used as a currency quite commonly instead of bartering, even in the lands of barbarians. "One denarius is worth more than a first century legionary earned in a day," adds Dymowski. The tiny coins were deemed valuable due to the metal with which they were made. On the eastern fringes of the Roman Empire, from the present day east Germany, through Poland, Ukraine and up to western Russia, denarii were used very commonly. The coins were silver plated or made of an alloy that was supposed to resemble silver." Kyrylo Myzgin is looking into the case told PAP: “It turned out that some of them are fake. Arkadiusz Dymowski, who together with Dr. The everyday shopper in Roman times would have a hard time telling the real money from the fake. Up until now, historians were convinced the coins came from the Empire itself. Hundreds thousands of silver Roman denarii have been found in the areas inhabited by Goths and Vandals in the beginning of this era. Thousands of coins dating back to the Roman era could be the work of First Century counterfeiters, it has been claimed.Īrcheologists from the University of Warsaw have been analysing the coins produced outside of the empire in today’s Poland, Ukraine and Belarus and have concluded that they are fake. Archaeologists suspect, that up to one fourth of coins found in Poland could be fake, though it is hard to estimate the forgery’s scale.
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