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Brass Sestertius of Philip II

The reverse image depicts Philip II holding a globe. This coin is another sestertius that was sold off as a duplicate from the Boston Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art a few years ago. It has a Patina similar to the Philip I sestertius also from this famous museum collecion which is now in the author's own collection.

This is a particularly nice example of a coin depicting a Roman emperor holding a globe on the reverse. It has always made the author chuckle when he remembers that he was taught in the second grade that Columbus discovered that the Earth was "round". Eratosthenes knew that it was spherical in shape or nearly so in the Third Century B. C. The only thing that Columbus proved was that sailors throughout history are often apt to believe fantastic tales and are easily hoodwinked! :-)


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