Sponsianus
Sponsia'nus
A few gold coins, of half barbarous workmanship and of much larger size than those usually issued from the Roman imperial mint, are to be found, chiefly in the museums of Austria, which exhibit on the obverse a male beardless head surrounded with rays, and the characters IMP. SPONSIANI, while on the reverse is stamped a device corresponding minutely with the consular denarii of C. Minucius Augurinus, and the letters C. AUG. The name of Sponsianus is totally unknown to history, and no plausible conjecture has yet been proposed in regard to the origin of these pieces. (Eckhel, Doctrin. Num. vol. vi. p. 840.) [W.R]