This is such a vast subject, that there will be highlighted links posted throughout to take you to experts & sites that are dedicated to one particular coin or a series of coins, offering a much easier solution to the problem of identification…
To start with, the everyday run-of-the-mill coins we find as metal detectorists are too far gone for us to identify, let alone be able to have a positive ID, but when we find a coin that has something left, i personally think we all should try to find an ID… most people, instead of trying themselves to find the age of a coin will turn to the social media sites, my personal thoughts on this that it is sad, as people are missing out on a large part of metal detecting, its great as a confirmation, but here and throughout this little piece of the internet is my own library of where i go to for identification of the artefacts i have found…
a quick few words on the first British coins
Iron Age coins an id of Celtic Coins by Van Arsdell
P.A.S. & the Iron Age Coins
when we had the Roman Invasion of 53BC the Iron Age coins were still in use, & maybe right through until the middle of the first century circulating amongst the early Roman coinage… Roman Coinage is such a vast subject, and a subject that has more stories to tell than any book written at the time of the coin being issued, and one of the most important works that have been written on the subject matter of Roman Coins and is recognised worldwide is the Roman Imperial Coinage or RIC’s as it is more commonly known, and being such a vast subject, this is written in twelve volumes with material being added all the time, each of the corresponding links here are the twelve volumes, an ideal reference work…
Roman-Imperial-Coins-RIC-Volume-1
Roman-Imperial-Coins-RIC-Volume-2
Roman-Imperial-Coins-RIC-Volume-3
Roman-Imperial-Coins-RIC-Volume-4B
Roman-Imperial-Coins-RIC-Volume-4C
Roman-Imperial-Coins-RIC-Volume-5A
Roman-Imperial-Coins-RIC-Volume-5B
Roman-Imperial-Coins-RIC-Volume-6
Roman-Imperial-Coins-RIC-Volume-7
Roman-Imperial-Coins-RIC-Volume-8
Roman-Imperial-Coins-RIC-Volume-9
Roman-Imperial-Coins-RIC-Volume-10
As with all books on coin identification, it is best to know the emperor, but sometimes that is impossible so a visual ID, has to be used, with some brilliant websites such as wildwind which help put the pieces of the puzzle together, or if you know it’s a later bronze coin and visual is better this site will do the job of a hundred different sites…But Failing that, look at the following books, the first two links are just an introduction, but from link three it gets interesting…
Section 4 Hadrian – C. Albinus
Section 5 S. Severus – U. Antoninus
Section 6 Valerian I – Julian I
Section 7 Diocletian – Constantius II 497 
Section 8 Magnentius – R. Augustus
The coins of Munda, is another front cover news for the Roman Empire, after the battle with the Pompeian Army, a very good and interesting read from V-Coins, as all Roman coins are the Facebook of their time, charting their success through the coinage…
It seems that later on, in the twilight years of the Roman Empire coins took on a shoddy and irregular size and shape.
Now after the Romans buggered oft to lands far away, and a couple of hundred years later we were infiltrated by the Angels, Saxons, and the Jutes, with the Saxons being the more powerful they produced their first coinage…
Imagine finding a rare coin, without knowing it…
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 which was found in Poland, in the late nineties, accompanied by a blurry 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…
Below are my thoughts on the matter…
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 Roman Citizens…
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…
udigidig.com 