An interesting find in Claterna, an ancient Roman town near modern Bologna: More than 3000 Roman coins and gems have been discovered. 
 

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/11/over-3000-roman-coins-found-at-claternae/149226

https://arkeonews.net/unique-gems-found-in-claterna-known-as-the-pompeii-of-the-north/

The details at the moment are sketchy, but reportedly there has been a discovery of tens of thousands of 4th century AD Roman bronze coins off the coast of the Italian island of Sardinia. They are thought to be possibly from an ancient shipwreck. They were spotted by a diver who noticed metallic objects in the sand.

At the moment, I am unsure the authenticity of these photos released by the Italian Culture Minister.

https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/national-international/tens-of-thousands-of-ancient-coins-have-been-found-off-sardinia-sparking-search-for-shipwreck/3141299/

Many in the numismatic community have been critical the lack of prominent display of coin hoards. This appears to be a nice exception.

The Muddy Hoard was found in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire and dates to approximately AD 274 during the joint reign of Tetricus I and his son during the Gallic Empire. The hoard consisted of 9724 Roman coins, including an unrecorded denarius of Tetricus I. (Source Wikipedia)
 

A coin from the hoard of Laelian, a usurper against Posthumous of the Gallic Empire.

https://www.cambstimes.co.uk/news/23826699.roman-coins-found-huntingdon-display-st-ives/

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-66827194

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muddy_hoard

https://www.thecollector.com/roman-coins-of-conquest/

Britannia reappeared on British coinage several centuries later.

Here’s an excellent article by NGC Ancients that shows how iconography on modern coins and stamps was inspired by ancient coins:

https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/11888/Ancient-coins-reborn/

Here is another good short video by Classical Numismatics:

A coin hoard was found in Livorno, Italy. It appears to be dated to the Roman civil war between Sulla and the Marians in 82 BCE.

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The coins were discovered by a member of an archaeological group in a newly-cut area of forest northeast of the city of Livorno in Tuscany. Archaeological investigations revealed the earliest coins dated from 157 or 156 B.C., while the most recent were from 83 or 82 B.C.

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/romans/2000-year-old-hoard-of-roman-coins-may-have-been-hidden-by-a-soldier-during-a-bloody-civil-war-in-italy

Doug Smith has a nice writeup for beginners on Parthian coins:

Parthian Coins (forumancientcoins.com)

The Dr. Robert Gonnella collection of Parthian coins is extensive and amazing:

Gonnella Collection (parthia.com)

Links to other Parthian coin sites:

Collections of Parthian Coins

Numismatists and other antiquarians are warned. This rare “EID MAR” coin, which sold at auction for $3.5 million dollars, was returned to the Greek government by the Manhattan DA’s office:

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The repatriation ceremony took place on Tuesday at the Greek Consulate in New York City and included 29 Hellenic antiquities dating back as early as 5,000 BCE, according to a news release from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. All of the antiquities were seized in connection with trafficking and smuggling investigations; New York Homeland Security Investigations special agent Ivan J. Arvelo said in a statement that Grecian artifacts are "especially susceptible" to trafficking because ancient Greece has "long (been) acknowledged as the cradle of Western Civilization."

Among the repatriated items is the "Eid Mar Coin," which sold to an anonymous bidder in the United States for £2.7 million ($3.5 million) through the Roma Numismatics auction house in London. But the coin had been smuggled into the UK after previously being offered for sale in Germany with no declared provenance, according to the release. The Manhattan DA office seized the coin in February.

Rare Coin, Minted by Brutus to Mark Caesar’s Death, Is Returned to Greece - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

New York returns 'extraordinarily rare' gold coin to Greece — after it set auction record for $3.5 million - CNN

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A bronze calyx krater, or vessel, dating from 350 B.C., was one of the 29 looted antiquities that investigators in New York returned to Greek officials.

Here is some background on another “EID MAR” coin:

(Roman sestertius of Trajan depicting Portus, the harbor of Rome.)

Here is another great video by Garrett Ryan. This video deals with architecture found on ancient Roman coins. Interestingly, he discusses the Roman port of Portus, near the city of Rome (4:40).  We had a recent thread on this harbor of Rome. (See thread below):

Here is an interesting article on some of the most fascinating and beautiful coins assessed by NGC Ancient Certification service. The background of the above coin is interesting:

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 The aureus above is among the finest specimens of this rare issue showing Manlia Scantilla. She was empress during the brief reign of her husband, Didius Julianus (A.D. 193), who was proclaimed emperor after buying the right to rule at an auction held by the Praetorian Guards. The reverse shows the goddess Juno holding a patera and scepter with a peacock at her feet.

https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/11134/NGC-Ancient-coins/

Images courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group, Heritage Auctions, Numismatica Ars Classica, Ira & Larry Goldberg, and Jean Elsen & ses Fils.

India, China and the Arabian peninsula take one hundred million sesterces from our empire per annum at a conservative estimate: that is what our luxuries and women cost us. For what fraction of these imports is intended for sacrifices to the gods or the spirits of the dead?

— Pliny, Historia Naturae 12.41.84.

I've recently enjoyed reading the book by Raoul McLaughlin "The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean."

I was impressed by the amount interaction between Romans and residents living in the India region. "These contacts brought Roman merchant ships into the Bay of Bengal and along trade routes that led to Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and ultimately the Han Empire of ancient China." Greek geographer Strabo (64 BCE - 24 AD) reports that after the Romans gained control of Egypt and her ports, the number of ships sailing from Egypt to India yearly increased from less than 20 to at least 120 vessels.

I was surprised, for example, by the number of Roman coin hoards in India, as well as the size of the Kottayam hoard found in southern India:

Professor Raoul McLaughlin states that there was a 25% tax (known as the tetarte) on imports. These imports included spices (especially pepper, cinnamon, ginger), ivory, incense, and gems (such as pearls and rubies) imported from India. These would enter the Empire through Alexandria. These same items would be taxed again when they left Alexandria for Rome and other Mediterranean cities. The tax revenues helped to fund the prosperity of Rome, including the Roman military and civilian programs. Professor McLaughlin states that this tax revenue from India and the East may have funded 25-30% of the entire Roman budget.

I am not certain about the extent of funding these taxes provided, but I am convinced that the amount of trade between these two regions is far greater than I ever imagined.

Below is an interesting India perspective on ancient Roman-India interactions and the numismatic evidence.

Professor McLaughlin's book may be controversial, but it is certainly thought-provoking. 

I am looking forward to reading McLauglin's book "The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes: The Ancient World Economy and the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia and Han China."

It is always good to have our previous notions about ancient Roman challenged.

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She said: “The Gobowen Hoard was found close to Watling Street, now the A5, the major Roman Road that connected London to Chester. This suggests that people were burying their valuables as they moved along major routeways, each hoping for better times to return and retrieve their wealth.

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A hoard of 337 silver Roman coins, discovered in a field, have been declared as treasure.

The denarii, believed to have been placed in the ground in about AD 69 to 70, were found in Gobowen, Shropshire.

Initially 64 coins were found close together before a team was sent out and the hoard recovered. 

Hoards of coins are "amazingly rare" in the county, an expert said. It is thought they are evidence of military activity in the area.

 

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Thanks to grants from the V&A Museum Purchase Grant and Headley Trust, Shropshire Museums was able to secure the majority of the funds needed, but a crowdfunding appeal to raise the remainder which was launched last month.

https://www.bordercountiesadvertizer.co.uk/news/23328064.shropshire-donation-saves-roman-coin-collection-museum/

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-shropshire-59958128.amp

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Watling Street, Roman road in England that ran from Dover west-northwest to London and thence northwest via St. Albans (Verulamium) to Wroxeter (Ouirokónion, or Viroconium).

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Watling-Street

Quintus Labienus was an ally of Brutus and Cassius following the assassination of Julius Caesar. After the deaths of Cassius and Brutus, Labienus joined forces with the Parthians. (The horse on the reverse of the coin probably reflects Labienus’ cavalry background.) He was later defeated and killed by Antony’s General Ventidius. 
 

This gold aureus of Labienus issued between 40-39 BCE sold for $930,000,  almost doubling the pre-auction estimate of $500,000.
 

https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/11170/roman-ancient-goldberg/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Labienus

There has long been a debate in the numismatic world based on coin evidence whether there was a “forgotten emperor usurper” named Sponsianus. Recent forensic studies of a coin bearing his name has possibly confirmed the authenticity of the coin.

A coin of Sponsian was located at the Hunterian  museum in Glasgow and has recently undergone a close evaluation.

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The ‘Roman emperor’ Sponsian is known only from an assemblage of coins allegedly found in Transylvania (Romania) in 1713. They are very unlike regular Roman coins in style and manufacture, with various enigmatic features including bungled legends and historically mixed motifs, and have long been dismissed as poorly made forgeries. Here we present non-destructive imaging and spectroscopic results that show features indicative of authenticity. Deep micro-abrasion patterns suggest extensive circulation-wear. Superficial patches of soil minerals bound by authigenic cement and overlain by oxidation products indicate a history of prolonged burial then exhumation. These observations force a re-evaluation of Sponsian as a historical personage. Combining evidence from the coins with the historical record, we suggest he was most likely an army commander in the isolated Roman Province of Dacia during the military crisis of the 260s CE, and that his crudely manufactured coins supported a functioning monetary economy that persisted locally for an appreciable period.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0274285

Despite some impressive and extensive evidence that possibly proves the authenticity of the coin, there does not seem to be any consensus that Sponsian was either a potential usurper or even a real person. There was a suggestion that the coin was an ancient barbarous imitation. Below is a numismatic thread that delves more deeply into the Sponsian controversy:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-legend-of-sponsianus.364019/

Excellent video on the controversy:
 

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A Civil Guard patrol was the first to arrive at El Zaudín Park in Tomares, in the southern Spanish province of Seville. It was April 27, 2016 and the law enforcement agency had just been notified that heavy machinery doing construction work in the area had accidentally come across 19 large ceramic containers filled with what appeared to be tens of thousands of Roman coins.

Now, six years later, a group of archaeologists and coin experts from the University of Seville have released a report, "Currency and metal in Late Antiquity: the Treasure of Tomares or Zaudín" that explores those findings. After analyzing 5,899 pieces, the researchers concluded that there were approximately 53,000 coins kept in the 19 amphorae, which were buried in a hidden storage area within a now-defunct Roman villa, and that they were all minted between the years 294 and 311 AD.

The 5,899 pieces that were analyzed were minted under the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Constantius, Galerius, Constantine, Severus, Maximinus, Licinius and Maxentius. They came from the mints of Rome, Carthage, Aquileia, Treveris, Ticinum, Lugdunum, Londinium, Siscia and Ostia. A smaller number of coins came from Alexandria, Cyzicus, Thessaloniki, Heraklea, Nicomedia and Antiochi. The emperor whose name appears on the highest number of coins is Diocletian, and the mint, Carthage.

 

https://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-11-03/researchers-unveil-secrets-of-the-largest-stash-of-roman-coins-ever-found-in-spain.html

A good review of the coins in the hoard:

The Islamic Prophet Muhammad died in AD 632. Soon afterwards, there was a rapid Muslim Conquest of the then-Christian Levant. The Byzantine Emperor Heraclius sent a large army to the Levant in AD 636 to check the Arab advance. He was decisively defeated, however, and the Byzantines were forced to leave the region. Within a few years, the Muslim conquest even defeated and ended the Sassanian Empire.

A recently-discovered Byzantine coin hoard was discovered in Israel. It was probably hidden for safekeeping from the approaching threat.

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Dr. Gabriela Bijovsky, Israel Antiquities Authority numismatic expert, examined the coin hoard, composed entirely of gold solidus coins, and identified some coins of Emperor Phocas (602–610 CE), and many coins minted by Emperor Heraclius (610–641 CE). The latest coins of Heraclius date the coin hoard to the time of the Muslim Conquest of Byzantine Palestine in 635 CE.

According to Dr. Yoav Lerer, Director of the excavation on behalf of the the Israel Antiquities Authority, “The coin hoard, weighing about 170 g, was concealed within the base of an ashlar stone wall at the time of the Muslim conquest. The discovery reflects a specific moment in time, when we can imagine the owner concealing his fortune in the threat of war, hoping to return one day to retrieve his property. In retrospect, we know that he was less fortunate.” Lerer adds, “The discovery of the coin hoard may also shed light on the economy of the city of Banias during the last 40 years of Byzantine rule.”

 

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/360698
 

This is another great video by Classical Numismatics. This video deals with the history and numismatics of Aurelian, one of Rome’s most successful Emperors who helped to unify a fragmented empire.

Here is a previous thread on the deity Sol Invictus. The fifth post delves into the role that Aurelian played in promoting the previously lesser deity into Rome’s major official religion in AD 270.