Editor’s Note:

Ukraine’s cash economy – and financial fraud – go back 2,000 years. Archeologists scouting the path of Lviv’s Northern Bypass Road found a small hoard four silver Roman denarii. In circulation from the Second Punic War, 211 BC, to the reign of Gordian III, 238–244 AD, the denarii are believed to have been used in the Lviv region around 100-200 AD. “On three silver denarii, even portraits of the emperors of Ancient Rome have been preserved,” reports the Lviv-based Rescue Archaeological Service. A fifth ‘denarius’ was made of copper, with traces of silver covering still visible. Researchers say it is a 2,000-year-old fake. With Best Regards, James Brooke.