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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