This photo of six coins was taken from the site PLOS ONE, under a common license… there are several links to the site below as well, very interesting reading, how they reached the decision, plus my own conclusion, this is sometimes why we need to either question the experts or accept their word-!…
I first heard about this coin from Poland, in the late nineties, accompanied by a bleary photo, from a newspaper cutting, in an unfathomable language, since then, i have learned it was Polish, when this coin reemerged i thought this was an early April 1st joke, this coin originally was supposed to be a fake but has now been declared legit, and not fake after all, When we thought that most things Roman were known, or coin wise that is, now we have another coin to hunt down, in our quest for the ultimate coin…
But if this new Emperor was part of the roman dynasty, apart from E-Type 6, again reading Sponsian, then where are his other coins or mentions by the ancient scribes, if not all emperors liked to participate in sponsorship, with a trophy wall, column, or statute, to lay claim to his greatness, this now opens up a whole new area of questions, as this does look like a beautiful coin, but is it really a coin belonging to an unheard of emperor-?…
The findings were published in PLOS ONE, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The question is, was Sponsian a local chief, to a country, area, or someone bigger within the wheels of the Roman empire…
SPON by the Daily Mail…
If i am allowed to be opinionated i think the coin is genuine and we need to break down the wording on the coin, as opposed to reading the words as Sponsian, mainly because the date given is supposed to be from 260 BC-?
Also, the word sponsian is Latin, meaning Roman Law, a suretyship accessory to the spoken word (-oral contract-), and is meant only for Romein Citezions…
Broken down below is the main context from Merriam-Webster…
sponsion noun spon·sion ˈspänchən plural-s
1-Roman law: suretyship accessory to oral contracts and available only to Roman citizens
2-: the act of becoming surety especially: a formal pledge made on behalf of another
3-: an act or engagement on behalf of a state undertaken by an agent not specially authorized or by one who exceeds the limits of his authority and requires for validity ratification by the state…
Word History-Etymology-Latin sponsion-, sponsio, literally, solemn promise, pledge, from sponsus (past participle of spondēre to promise solemnly) + -ion-, -io -ion
So, my interpretation of the wording of the coin is;
I-IMP = Leader of the military; –
SPONSIAN – = i make an oral contract to the people of Roma
which i interpret as; As the leader of the military, i make an oral contract to you the people of Rome of a promise to protect
At this time in Rome’s history, this was commonly known as the crisis of the third century-235-BC -284-BC, and the most likely one was Saloninus, but he has his own coins…
On the front of the coin is VG, which is quite important, on earlier coins of the Imperatorial period the abbreviation ‘AVG’ may be used to designate membership in the Auguries, one of Rome’s four principal priestly colleges. i know the A is missing but it might not be, as the person in charge of the mint, the moneyer just simply left it off, which is not unheard off..
Most people know AVG, on later coins, appeared when Octavian had the honorific title bestowed upon him by the Roman Senate on 16th January 27BC, AVG is an abbreviation for Augustus, every successor adopted this as an indication of their supreme authority…
Northeast Detectorist 
Leave a Reply