Ancient Roman brothel tokens from 2000 years ago

An archaeological enthusiast recently discovered an ancient coin on the bank of the Thames River. This ancient coin is a bit special. It is from ancient Rome. Period brothel tokens.

China News Service According to foreign media reports, an archeology enthusiast recently discovered an ancient coin on the bank of the Thames River. The coin was made of copper and was smaller than a 10 pence coin. Historians believe , which is an ancient Roman brothel token engraved with images of male and female coitus.

According to reports, 37-year-old archeology enthusiast Regis Kesan used a metal detector to discover the coin that had been buried for more than 2,000 years under the soil. When he recalled the process of discovering the coin, he said: "The water level in the river was very low that day, and the rain was very heavy after the early tide. When I found it, judging from the thickness and diameter, I initially thought it was just an ancient Roman coin. But it was just an ancient Roman coin." After I wiped the mud off the coin, I saw that there were numbers on one side and what appeared to be figures on the other side. Although I didn’t know at the time that this was a very rare ancient Roman brothel token, I was very excited.”

It is reported that this is the first time that brothel tokens from the ancient Roman period have been found in the UK. The reverse of the coin bears the ancient Roman numeral XIIII. It is currently on display at the British Museum and will be on public display for the next three months.

According to experts, in ancient Rome, prostitutes who held the tokens could have "sex slaves" serve them according to the patterns engraved on the tokens. The prostitute would exchange 14 small ancient Roman coins for the token. In the 1st century AD, the value of such a brothel token was equivalent to 7 loaves of bread or a day's wages of an ordinary laborer.