Ancient Roman coins reveal long-lost emperor

The coin with the emperor Sponsian's face depicted on it - A gold coin long dismissed as a forgery appears to be authentic and depicts a long-lost Roman emperor named Sponsian, according to a new UCL-led study. The coin, housed at The Hunterian collection at the University of Glasgow, was among a handful of coins of the same design unearthed in Transylvania, in present-day Romania, in 1713. They have been regarded as fakes since the mid-19 -century, due to their crude, strange design features and jumbled inscriptions. In the new study, published in PLOS ONE , researchers compared the Sponsion coin with other Roman coins kept at The Hunterian, including two that are known to be genuine. They found minerals on the coin's surface that were consistent with it being buried in soil over a long period of time, and then exposed to air. These minerals were cemented in place by silica - cementing that would naturally occur over a long time in soil. The team also found a pattern of wear and tear that suggested the coin had been in active circulation.