Discovery of 2,000-year-old coin opens unexpected window into Ancient Rome

A railway construction project in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, England, has yielded a rare Roman coin dating to approximately 1,740 years ago, bearing the name of Emperor Carausius, along with pottery and evidence of settlement and farming. The discoveries were made during excavations for the East West Rail project connecting Oxford and Cambridge, with archaeologists finding artifacts spanning from the Iron Age through the Roman period across over 1,000 trenches. The finds provide insight into ordinary Roman life in Britain rather than isolated high-status objects, according to East West Rail's historic environment lead.