A Reproduction of Actual Roman Coin, Struck in the 1st Century A.D. There Are 16 Coins in The Series. This is #11 of 16
A spintria (plural, spintriae) is a Roman token, possibly for use in brothels, usually depicting sexual acts or symbols. They were only produced for a few years in the first century, between the years 20 to 40 AD, during the reign of Emperor Tiberius. The numbers I to XVI are known, but numbers exceeding XII are very rare. The Discovery Channel had a series, hosted by Terry Jones (Monty Python), “The History of Sex” and Roman brothel tokens were briefly mentioned. They were struck in brass or bronze. Possibly they were used to overcome the language barrier for visitors who spoke no Latin. Experts cannot agree on the use for the Roman numbers. Were they the price for the act pictured on the front, or the value, or just a risqué novelty item? We will never know for sure. They are a great piece of Roman history