FIFTY or so years ago, lifelong York City supporter John Carlton saw something sparkling at Bootham Crescent.

It wasn't the performance on the pitch which caught his eye (although the Minstermen scored some impressive successes in the Fifties).

He had spotted a shiny object in rubble behind the mound which was the Shipton Street end of the ground before the stand was built.

Mr Carlton picked it up and soon realised that the small, flat disc was a coin - a Roman coin, in fact.

He has kept it ever since. And then this week a story in the national news grabbed his attention.

A coin discovered in Oxfordshire had been hailed by British Museum experts as sensational, because it proved the existence of a previously unknown Roman emperor called Domitianus.

Mr Carlton retrieved his coin and noticed striking similarities with the Oxford one.

They are the same size and each bore a profile of a man with a long chin wearing the emperor's crown. Could the retired building worker from Stirling Grove, York, have discovered Domitianus half a century ago?

Simon Holmes, finds liaison officer based at the Yorkshire Museum, kindly examined the find and declared: close, but no cigar.

"It falls into the same period as the British Museum coin," he said. Which is the third century. But the emperor it commemorates is Tetricus, whose coins are much more common.

Mr Carlton, 76, was disappointed. But he still has his little piece of ancient history.

And who knows, a toga-clad referee could have flipped that very coin to start the first game of football in our city.

Here is a very late result: Eboracum City four, Mamuciam United nil (R Keanus sent off).

ABOUT the resurfacing of Layerthorpe: ooh, isn't it lovely?

IT was the exclusive none of them wanted. But the Diary's potentially Pulitzer-prize winning item on a clampdown on drinkers' foul-smelling emissions in the Blue Bell, York, has spread everywhere.

Word reaches us that the story is already causing a stink amongst Yorkies now exiled in America.

Closer to home, Ben Sutton from Heworth, writes to congratulate us on fearless investigative reporting.

"It is comforting to know that the natural and notably non-deadly process of farting is taking greater precedence in the media spotlight than the perfectly harmless act of smoking, which smells lovely.

"I'm just waiting for Lynx to bring out their next bodyspray, perhaps calling it 'Fag' or 'Le Ashtray'.

"That way I won't have to go into a pub to pick-up that gorgeous aroma of smoke that I so desire.

"The approximate figure is that 73 per cent of the population do not smoke.

"I wonder what the percentage is that fart? Oh, the comedy potential. There's your next story Chris."

We're working on it Ben. Thanks for your support.

PRIVACY infringement alert. The Diary's occasional correspondent DH of Bishopthorpe bought a Winterwarm electric blanket recently (a sensible purchase given the conditions).

To extend the guarantee from three years to five, DH was asked to fill out a leaflet. It contains so many questions you would think it was an application form to become one of the Government's new spies.

"I must relate my purchase to my married status, the ages of my children, occupation, details any partner, residence details etc," writes DH.

"To end these most unbelievable questions, number eight: my annual income."

Imagine what Winterwarm would want to know if you were extending the guarantee for ten years.

Write to: The Diary, Chris Titley, The Evening Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York YO1 9YN

Email diary@ycp.co.uk

Telephone (01904) 653051 ext 337

Updated: 09:37 Friday, February 27, 2004