Ancient Roman Pornographic Token Found in London

Museum of London Image

The first known Roman brothel token to have been discovered in London and most likely Britain, is on temporary display at the Museum of London.

The token or spintria, depicts a man and a woman having sex on one face, and has the Roman numerals XIIII (14) on the other. The lady appears to be lying on a couch on her front and a male figure is positioned behind her.

The item was hit upon by a mudlarker on the Thames foreshore near Putney Bridge, whilst searching with a metal detector. It was then declared to the Museum of London under the Portable Antiquities Scheme (external website). The spintria is roughly the size of a 10 pence piece and may even be the only such token ever found in Britain.

Caroline McDonald, Museum of London Curator, said: “This is the perfect archaeological object. It’s sexy and provocative in the best sense of the word. The lot of a Roman sex slave was not a happy one and objects like this . . .

Read more at: Museum of London