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Museum: Rare coin may be Roman brothel token

Undated photo released Thursday Jan. 26, 2012 by the Museum of London of a Roman brothel token found in London's river Thames.The object has been dated, by experts at the Museum of London, to the Roman period and approximately the 1st century AD. The token or spintria, depicts a man and a woman in a close embrace on one face, and has the Roman numerals XIIII (14) on the other. The item found by a member of the public using a metal detector on the River Thames foreshore near Putney Bridge in west London. There is much debate about the precise use of these Roman spintria although they are widely thought to be brothel tokens, which were exchanged for sex. The token is now part of the Museum of London's collection and is on display until April 2012. (AP Photo/Museum of London)

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The Associated Press Updated 9:11 AM Thursday, January 26, 2012

LONDON — The Museum of London is displaying a coin found by the River Thames that may have been used nearly 2,000 years ago as a "brothel token" in Roman London.

The bronze coin shows a man and woman in an intimate embrace.

Senior curator Caroline McDonald said Thursday it is impossible to determine precisely what the coin was used for.

She says it is probable brothels existed in London when the coin was in circulation after the Roman invasion of Britain in the 1st Century A.D.

Experts believe the coin was concealed by mud along the river banks for some 2,000 years before it was discovered recently by a man with a metal detector looking for objects near Putney Bridge.

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January 26, 2012 02:09 PM EST

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