I recently came across an AP article about a coin found in London .

When the press reports on ancient coins, I find it a bit humorous and also kind of sad that such articles often contain inaccuracies. A reporter - even one not knowledgeable about this topic - should be able to do better.

The first sentence states that "Roman pottery and a coin from the Iron Age have been found on the site of the aquatics center planned for the London 2012 Olympics. " Subsequently the coin is described as being of Constantine II from the 4th century.

All definitions of the Iron Age that I can find indicate that the 4th century is much later than the end of the Iron Age.

Then there's the description of the coin: "One side of the coin features a picture of two soldiers and two standards, and the other has inscriptions representing Constantine II, Caesar and Illissimus."

Illissimus ???

This is most likely a Gloria Exercitus coin similar to this one in my collection (BACC #19)

The inscription is CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C

NOB is short for nobillissimus (Latin word for noble) which is probably the source of this article's final word: "Illissimus"