British experts studying a silver coin depicting Cleopatra claim that it is proof that she was not the beautiful queen of legend.

Historians at Newcastle University found that Cleopatra and her lover Mark Antony were not even close to dashing couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, who played them in the epic film.

The 2,000-year-old coin reveals that Roman general Antony has a thick neck, a hook nose and bulging eyes, while his Egyptian lover had a sharp nose, pointed chin and thin lips.

Around the size of a 5p piece, the silver denari features profiles of Cleopatra and Antony, who are far from the popular romantic images of stage and screen.

The coin, found in Newcastle-upon-Tyne as part of a search for items for the new Great North Museum, dates from 32BC and was created in Antony's mint to mark military victories in Armenia funded by Cleopatra.

Lindsay Allason-Jones, director of archaeological museums at Newcastle, said: "The idea of Cleopatra as a beautiful seductress is much more recent. Classical age writers tell us that she was intelligent and charismatic, and that she had a seductive voice. But tellingly, they make little of her beauty."

Antony and Cleopatra killed themselves just two years after the coin was minted, as they faced rebellions and invasions.