Aureus of Claudius (found in Southern India)

A gold coin of Emperor Claudius, struck 50–51 AD. This specimen was excavated in Southern India. The source catalogue lists it under the category 'coin with a test cut'. This mark is a trace of the recipient inserting a blade to verify with their own eyes that it was gold. Pliny, in the same period, wrote that India was 'the sink of the world's most precious metals'. Roman gold flowed east in exchange for pepper and, like this piece, was shaved before returning to the earth.