Posted on 01/16/2012 7:09:52 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Made from bronze and smaller than a ten pence piece, the coin depicts a man and a woman engaged in an intimate act.
Historians believe it is the first example of a Roman brothel token to be found in this country.
It lay hidden in mud for almost 2,000 years until it was unearthed by an amateur archaeologist with a metal detector.
On the reverse of the token is the numeral XIIII, which experts say could indicate the holder handed over 14 small Roman coins called asses to buy it.
This would have been the equivalent of seven loaves of bread or one day's pay for a labourer in the first century AD.
The holder would then have taken the token to one of the many Londinium brothels and handed it to a sex slave in exchange for the act depicted on the coin...
Experts say there is a possibility it could also be a gaming token -- although it would be the only one in Britain to display such an explicit illustration.
Historians believe that the use of a specific image was necessary because many of the brothel slaves would not have been fluent in Latin so needed a picture to know what service their client required.
It is also thought that tokens were a way of ensuring none of the customers' money went directly to the prostitutes.
Experts say it was also illegal to take Roman coins into a brothel during the reign of first century emperor Tiberius as they carried his image.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Awful memories. I traveled in AR for many years when he was Gov and later Pres. What a national embarrassment.
The later years I learned a great deal about things around Mena and Nella.
About Seth Ward. About the McDougals. About a lot of really vial players. And several spooks, Barry Seal, Felix Rodriguez and others.
The coin is clearly a counterfeit. 14 is XIV, not X1111 :>)slaves would not have been fluent in Latin”
The coin is clearly a counterfeit. 14 is XIV, not X1111 :>)slaves would not have been fluent in Latin”
Wow... does it mean there are a set of coins each with a distinct sexual act? Why didn't they find the other? It's like those card games...
The coin is clearly a counterfeit. 14 is XIV, not X1111 :>)slaves would not have been fluent in Latin”
You have no idea what the X1111 means. You just assume it was supposed to mean 14, when it might have some other meaning entirely. Read the last comment in the original article where the woman from London says she believes it could be a theatre token, with the X1111 being the theatre aisle where the patron’s seat was located. As good a possibility as any. Also, you don’t think that after many months of cleaning the coin and checking it out, they wouldn’t know if it was a counterfeit or not? This coin is real, or they wouldn’t be putting it on display at the museum.
Adults only. It's not a site for those in the workplace.
struck for the 14th Legion.
Yes. See the link in post #28.
There is a new thread now saying the Romans used both XIV and XIIII interchangeably on their coins, for the 14th Roman Legion.
One night with Venus, a lifetime with Mercury.
Thanks!
Speaking that, I found out that Powerball has gone up to two bucks a week, minimum jackpot to $40 million, and I’m not sure, but I don’t think they take multidraw wagers any longer.
I’m not going to make a crude joke about why the modern UK coin has just the head of the queen on it. Dang, I did it anyway. Too bad I’ve already clicked “Post”.
You can always ask Prudence to remove it.....
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Yes...they’d need to be cunning linguists....
(Boy I’m late with that one....)
(Boy I’m late with that one....)
Come again? (That's how late it was)
That was YOU????
OMG! YOU are 3 pages in my diary...and my flag is still flying half mast...
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