Roman ancient gold coins

As amazing as it seems, you can be walking across a farmers field and run across a two thousand year old gold coin just by being in the right place at the right time. This has happened many times.

In 2008, Derrick Fretwell, a machinery sales manager found himself in the right place in a field near Ashbourne, Derbys in the United Kingdom. A couple of coins caught his eye and he stooped to pick up two roman ancient gold coins of the emperor Carausius.

Incredibly, in the entire world, there are only 23 of these coins in existence. Derek had single handedly increased that count to 25. Mr. Fretwell reported the find to the authorities who will now decide how much he is to be paid for his discovery.

Archeologists are extremely interested in the coins because of their historical significance. First they want to make sure they are authentic, by comparing them to other coins of the emperor Carausius.

M. Aurelius Mausaeus Carausius was a Roman general during the reign of the Emperor Maximianus. Carausius was put in charge of the fleet at Gesoriacum (Boulogne, France), where he was ordered to clear the surrounding waters of pirates.

Carausius himself turned to piracy, sailing to Roman Britain to avoid the wrath of the emperor. Carausius conquered Britain in AD 287. His set up mints at London, Colchester and at Rouen in France. Archeologists will try to determine if Derek Fretwell's coins came from one of those places. Click the roman ancient gold coins link to get back to the home page.