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"Who is the likeness on the face?"

"A standing figure of Theodosius the Great, Emperor of the Roman and Byzantine Empires His position is a common motif found on the face of coins from that era if you look closely, you can lobe and a labarum"

"A labarum?"

"Yes, a banner bearing the Greek letters XP and for the the name of Christ" The Emperor Constantine adopted it after his conversion to Christianity and it was handed down through his successors"

"What do youon the reverse?" asked Gronquist

Grahalass as he studied the coin "Three words First one looks like TRIVMFATOR Can't make out the other two They're nearly worn sive a description and Latin translation I'll have to wait until we return to civilization before I can look them up"

"Can you date it?"

Grahan of Theodosius, which, if I remember correctly, was from AD 379 to 395"

Lily stared at Gronquist- "Right in the ballpark"

He shook his head "Sheer fantasy, to suggest fourth-century Eskimos had contact with the Roman Empire"

"We can't rule out the infinity of chance," Lily persisted

"Once this gets out, there will be a flood of speculation and hype by the newsthe coin for the first time

Gronquist took a s of his brandy "Ancient coinage has turned up in odd places before But the date and source of its deposit could rarely be proven to the full satisfaction of the archaeologists'

community"

"Perhaps," said Grahaive my Mercedes convertible to kno it turned up here"