A rare gold coin minted during the reign of Byzantine emperor Justin II (565-578 A.D.) has been discovered in the ancient fortress of Tuida in Sliven, southern Bulgaria. It is a light solidus minted in Theupolis (ancient Antioch in Syria, modern-day Antakya, southern Turkey), whereas the more frequently found examples of this design are full-weight solidi minted in Constantinople.The obverse bears a helmeted and cuirassed bust of the emperor, holding Victory on a globe in his right hand and a shield with a horseman device against his left shoulder. It is inscribed DN IVSTINVS PP AVG (which stands for Our Lord Justin, Father of the Country, Augustus). The reverse features the personification of Constantinopole enthroned looking right, holding a long scepter in her right hand and the globus crucifer (aka, the orb and cross) in her left. It is inscribed VICTORIA AVGGG S (meaning Victory of the three emperors, Theoupolis).The Sliven area has been settled going back 8,000 years to the Neolithic era. Archaeological remains of a Thracian settlement dating to between the 6th-3rd century B.C. were found on Hisarlaka Hill in the 1980s. The settlement was conquered by Philip of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great, and then by the Roman Republic around 72 B.C. It was absorbed into the Roman Empires province of Thrace, and is referred to in ancient sources as Tuida/Suida at this time. In the 4th century, a fortress was built on Hisarlaka Hill became part of Romes defensive Stara Planina fortification system.The fortress was destroyed by the Huns in the 5th century but was rebuilt by Byzantine emperor Anastasius I Dicorus (r. 491-518 A.D.) with improved fortifications. Emperor Justinian I (527-565 A.D.) also expanded and rebuilt parts of the fortress and the surrounding settlement. Tuida was destroyed again in around 598 or 599 by Avars, Slavs and Proto-Bulgarians. The fortress was rebuilt again in the 9th century by the First Bulgarian Empire and new buildings erected inside the fortress complex. It remained in use until the beginning of the 13th century when Bulgaria was conquered by the Byzantines again.The Sliven Regional Historical Museum has been excavating the site yearly since 2004 and so far has uncovered only four gold coins in total. Gold coins were much too valuable to buy stuff with. They were status symbols and investments, so the discovery of four of them in the fortress grounds are evidence that wealthy people lived there.This seasons dig unearthed a total of 23 coins ranging in date from the 2nd century to the 13th. Most of them are bronze. Bronze coins were the main circulating currency exchanged for goods and services. The abundance of bronze coins found in the fortress are evidence of brisk trade having taken place there.The gold coin found earlier this month was first believed to be minted by Justinian I, but after it was cleaned it was identified as the Justin II light solidus. Justinian was Justins uncle (and Justins wife Sophia was Justinians wife Theodoras niece.)Justin II was handpicked by his uncle Justinian I to succeed him to the throne. He was unable to live up to his uncles great success in reclaiming imperial territories in the west and east, and soon lost Italy to the Lombards, Spain to the Visigoths, and Mesopotamia, Syria and Armenia to the Persian Sasanian Empire. He did pay off the large debt his uncles wars had accumulated, however, and appears to have left a large amount of cash in the vaults before his mental health nosedived and his caesar Tiberius began to rule in his stead in 574 A.D.