I've just found something that jogged my memory from early 2010.
I remember reading a forum board about something very similar to bitcoin / bitgold that I think I found via a search engine. I had registered on bitcointalk and was searching for bitcoin history at that time. So, the date of the board was probably 2007-2009.
The board had very few contributors - I got the impression that one of the 3 main contributors was a university professor / lecturer type and had an advisory role over the others. I also got the impression (and this is from memory) that the other main contributors were 1 male and 1 female - perhaps students.
The 'coat of arms' that I think I remember on the board was that of the George Washington University.
https://www.gwu.edu/seal-mace-coat-armsI've searched many Universities and College websites for this 'shield' and this one is the closest match to my memory of it.
I don't want to find 'Satoshi', but I would like to find and read that board - I've looked for it and I can't find it. Obviously it was freely available on the internet, but maybe it got archived or deleted ?
Perhaps Phinnaeus Gage or someone else could help to find this ?