coin: Dug out of the Thames mud,

Dug out of the Thames mud, a token Romans used to pay for their pleasure
Amateur archaeologist unearthed coin with a metal detector by river at low tide

First time a Roman brothel token is found in Britain
By Eleanor Harding

A Roman coin that was probably used by a lustful legionary has washed up on the banks of the Thames.
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.
The token was found by pastry chef Regis Cursan, 37, who used a metal detector to scan the banks of the Thames near Putney Bridge in West London.


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