Fake Emperors on Roman Coins

A few Roman emperors are known only from coins. Sometimes, these are forgeries. But they can also be fascinating historical footnotes.

Special thanks to Kevin at Noble Roman Coins for providing some excellent issues from Colonia Viminacium.

Check out my other channels @toldinstone and @scenicroutestothepast

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:39 Sponsianus
2:20 Dryantilla
2:54 Uranius Antoninus
3:42 L. Domitius Domitianus

[Ktotwf]

Whoa whoa whoa, Caligula is my favorite deranged Emperor. Can't beat the original.

[automaticmattywhack]

The 3rd Century Crisis just keeps getting worse and worse. How they survived is amazing.

[danthefrst]

The good ol Sponsianus.
Have you seen the series of Guy Debedoyere of the Classical and ancient civilization channel? He made a really interesting series covering the inns and outs about different coinage forgery history and the chaotic times that spawned all the short lasting emperors and much more in order to uncover what the Sponsian coin could really be. It was wonderful.
Great thanks

[nicholausbuthmann]

I suppose these Fake or short lived Emperor's on Coinage makes them worth all the more due to BOTH Rarity & Historical Interest ?!

[scotmhead]

I got to know Kevin back in the 2000s, he treated me well.

[obscurehistory]

Wow is all I can say to this video. Never have I heard of the usurpers mentioned here, and I’m a big fan of the time period. This is why I love the ancient world as it keeps on giving. I can also well imagine that coins of any of the individuals outlined would command a hefty price tag.

[Fargo]

Do you think it's possible some of these usurper emperors were subjected to Damnatio memoriae?

[kshaw]

What do you think would happen if the praetorian guard was disbanded earlier than they were, do you think rome would maybe last long?

[thegrandlevel]

This was a security feature.

Shipping coins across the empire involved risk of looting.

This is also why we see both hot and cold stamping.

Cold stamped coins were often used for military payroll because blanks were safer to ship to stamp on arrival. Occasionally, they were issued commemorative coins that were legal tender but commemorated their service in the conquest of certain provinces.

False emperors were placed on coins because if stolen, no merchant would accept a coin they’d never seen with an emperor who never existed.

It made it possible to actually go to the frontiers and find the thieves and counterfeiters.

[IDPYouTube]

Q for your next video: Caesar’s “Elephant” denarius’ are generally attributed to circa 48-49 BC and sometimes said to have been minted in Italy. Is there any interesting information that might allow us to pin down the year or the place a bit more? I note that a lot of this coin has been found in Spain, where years later a coin obviously inspired by it was minted. It seems that they could have been made any time/location during or in the prelude to the civil conflict, so that would have us rule in/out Italy, Spain, France, Greece…

[Kyle_Schaff]

Do details exist about life in the provinces? Not what was happening in a senator’s estate, but what the community, government, and economy of provincial life looked like—especially regarding anything we can discern about what the provincials themselves valued or believed. I know it must have varied considerably through time and location, but I’m being broad for the most threads for the tapestry as you say

[LostCylon]

''History'' is fluid, written by the winners more often then the losers. Roman history abounds by these remains, people often tried to claim leadership during turmoil, and either succeeded, or fell to ignomy. Few remains exist of those, except notes and a few coins, as noted may have been faked later...

[willempasterkamp]

Sponsiani (plural) are the 'called ones' ; martyrs. the only possible candidates are the Claudians (Clothi) as they were persecuted by Tiberius and Sejanus. They are aka 'the saints of high places' ; of high esteem or the Nicolaitans (nike = victory, lads = warriors). The high places would have been the palace at the palatine hill and the temple of Claudius divius both at the Via Sacra in 1st century rome.

[TheAnthraxBiology]

Hold on now buddy, there's a few other deranged guys to compete with: Caligula, Commodus, possibly Nero...

[Michael_the_Drunkard]

Sponsian's coins are no longer declared a forgery