> The rare coin was discovered in March 2023 in Hampshire county and was auctioned Sept. 28 for 20,400 British pounds ($24,720), Spink auction house said in a s

> The rare coin was discovered in March 2023 in Hampshire county and was auctioned Sept. 28 for 20,400 British pounds ($24,720), Spink auction house said in a series of statements. > A Latin alphabetic inscription on the coin bears the name "Esunertos," which can be translated as "mighty as the god Esos," (also spelled Esus) the statements said. The name itself is Gaulish, a language commonly spoken in the region at the time, John Sills, an archaeologist at the University of Oxford's Institute of Archaeology who examined the coin before it was auctioned, told Live Science in an email. > The coin dates to sometime between 50 B.C. and 30 B.C., a time after Julius Caesar invaded Britain twice around 55 B.C. to 54 B.C., the statement said. Caesar's invasions failed to establish permanent Roman control over Britain. It wasn't until after another Roman invasion, launched in A.D. 43 by Emperor Claudius, that the Roman Empire managed to gain long-term control over part of the island. > This coin is one of only three on record that bear the name Esunertos, Sills said. All three were found in the same region, and it's possible that the territory controlled by Esunertos included part of what is now western Hampshire, Sills noted.