An ancient gold coin long dismissed as a forgery is authentic and depicts a long-lost Roman emperor, according to a new study.
The coin depicting the Roman emperor Sponsian was first unearthed in Transylvania, in present-day Romania, in 1713 along with a handful of other coins of the same design, said researchers, including those from University College London.
The coins have been regarded as “fakes” since the mid-19th century, due to their crude, strange design features and jumbled inscriptions.
