Gold Coin Stamped With Face Of Assassinated Roman Emperor Uncovered In Hungary

Hungarian archaeologists have uncovered a “very rare” gold Roman coin featuring the face of an emperor who was assassinated in the third century.

According to Live Science, Emperor Volusianus, whose face appears on the find, co-ruled the Roman Empire with his father for two years before his own soldiers killed him at the young age of 22.

Adding to the discovery’s mystique is the fact that Roman coins, and this particular coin’s denomination in itself, are uncommon, as per Máté Varga, a researcher from the University of Szeged who headed the excavation. 

Rare gold coin found in Hungary shows assassinated Roman emperor https://t.co/jti4tYKPlq

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The coin—which weighed 0.2 ounces—had first been discovered when a metal detector was used to survey the site, and is believed to have been minted between AD 251 and 253.

While one side of the aureus features a portrait of the assassinated emperor, the other depicts Libertas, a personification of “freedom.”

At the moment, the researchers still have no idea who had been the original owner of the coin, positing it was “likely a stray that someone lost.” 

“It must have been a great loss for the former owner to lose this valuable coin,” Varga said.

Interestingly, the excavators are keeping the exact location of the site a secret, “as the archaeological site is being investigated.” 

“Illegal metal detectors are a big problem in Hungary, so we cannot reveal the location for the time being,” explained Varga. 

Seeing as how the coin wasn’t of small value either—“a double aureus”—it makes sense that the researchers would want to keep its exact location a secret till it can be completely investigated. 

“Judging by the photo, the condition of the coin is terrific,” said Marjanko Pilekic, a numismatist at the Coin Cabinet of the Schloss Friedenstein Gotha Foundation in Germany.

He said the coin, which “appeared only at the beginning of the third century AD … then quickly disappeared,” was a “wonderful and exciting” discovery.

The coin now resides in the Numismatic Collection at the Rippl-Rónai Museum.

[via Live Science, cover image via Dosseman / Wikimedia Commons]