Among the donations collected by the Salvation Army religious organization in the Florida city of Tampa, a gold coin from the 1st century BC was discovered. The experts estimated it at two thousand dollars.
An unknown person threw a coin, wrapped in a one-dollar bill, into the Red Bowler, a special vessel for collecting donations, with which the Salvation Army volunteers traditionally stand at the entrance to various institutions on the eve of Christmas. When the coin was discovered, it was handed over to specialists for evaluation.
The obverse of the coin depicts three men in Roman togas: a consul accompanied by two lictors. Below them is the Greek inscription ΚΟΣΩΝ. On the opposite side there is an image of an eagle holding a wreath in its claws. This type of coin is known to researchers of antique numismatics, but they still cannot solve its riddle. These coins (according to the inscription they are often called simply "koson") were found only on the territory of Transylvania, but sometimes in significant quantities. The largest find was made in 1543 near the city of Broos (modern Orastie in the Romanian county of Hunedoara). Then thousands of "kosons" and other gold items were found. In the mountains around Orastie there are six Dacian fortresses, built to protect against the Romans at the turn of our era, including Sarmisegetuza, the seat of the kings of Dacia and an important religious center.
The word "Koson" on the coin should be the name of the king, but the ancient sources do not mention any ruler with such a name among the Dacians or among the neighboring peoples. Already in the 16th century, the coins of the unknown king attracted the attention of researchers. Erasmus of Rotterdam and the Hungarian historian Stefan Zamoziy (1570-1612) wrote about them. Romanian historian and archaeologist Vasile Parvan (1882–1927) suggested that Koson was one of the Thracian kings who used the Dacian tribes to attack Roman territory and paid for their services with gold coins bearing his name. There is an assumption that Koson is the Getan king Kotizon, mentioned by Suetonius, who reported that the emperor Augustus was going to marry his daughter Julia to him. Modern historians believe that Augustus hatched such plans in 35 BC. e., when he sought an alliance with Kotizon against the Illyrians. Later, in one of the odes, Horace reports that Cotizon was defeated by the Romans (“Cotizona-Daka regiments were killed”).
The famous historian of antiquity Theodor Mommsen suggested that Koson was an ally of Mark Junius Brutus during the civil war that followed Caesar's assassination. Brutus led the military operations in the Balkans, and the decisive battle of that war took place, as you know, near the Macedonian city of Philippa, in the north of modern Greece. Mommsen's assumption about the connection between Koson and Brutus is based on the similarity of the golden kosons with the coins minted by Brutus and Cassius during the war. The coins depicted the great ancestor of Brutus - Lucius Junius Brutus, a Roman patrician who led the uprising against the last king of Rome, Tarquinius the Proud, and became one of the first two Roman consuls. On the coin, the figure of Lucius Brutus was also accompanied by lictors, in truth, not two, but three. The figures on both coins are depicted facing left. If Mommsen's hypothesis is correct,then such coins were minted in 44-42 BC. e.
The condition of the coin found in Tampa is assessed as excellent (MS 63 on the William Sheldon scale). Now the Salvation Army is discussing with the coin dealers the organization of the sale of the coin in order to send the proceeds to charity.