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Yay! I finally got my "Hippie Coin" from Europe!
lordmarcovan
Posts: 43,218 ✭✭✭✭✭
Thanks to Dimitri/SYRACUSIAN, who stepped in as my Greek Eurozone intermediary because the German seller (Kunker am Dom) doesn't ship to the USA.
As I mentioned in a Liteside thread, this one has a "hippie" vibe to it.
Groovy bearded dudes in robes have apparently been flashing the peace sign for more than 600 years!
It is also a very appealing medieval piece, in my humble opinion. Shipping hassles or no, I had to have it.
It is a circa 1372-1438 silver grosso from Ragusa, which I guess is part of modern Croatia now.
The Tommy Chong lookalike fella who's flashing us the peace sign is Saint Blasius.
The other bearded individual should be recognizable to most people in Western civilization.
As I mentioned in a Liteside thread, this one has a "hippie" vibe to it.
Groovy bearded dudes in robes have apparently been flashing the peace sign for more than 600 years!
It is also a very appealing medieval piece, in my humble opinion. Shipping hassles or no, I had to have it.
It is a circa 1372-1438 silver grosso from Ragusa, which I guess is part of modern Croatia now.
The Tommy Chong lookalike fella who's flashing us the peace sign is Saint Blasius.
The other bearded individual should be recognizable to most people in Western civilization.
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Hippy, Hippy Shakes
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Josh Moran
CIVITAS Galleries, Ltd.
so whom are the doods in the pictorial representations?
.
<< <i>.
so whom are the doods in the pictorial representations?
. >>
Read the OP.
It's ironic that wiki quotes: "
If the palm of the hand faces the signer (i.e., the back of the hand faces the observer), the sign signifies:
An insult. This usage is restricted largely to Australia[citation needed], Ireland, New Zealand[citation needed], South Africa[citation needed], and the United Kingdom.[4][5]
The number '2' in American Sign Language."
"With the back of the hand facing the signer (palm of the hand facing the observer), it can mean:
the number two
Victory – in a setting of wartime or competition. It was first popularised in January 1941 by Victor de Laveleye, a Belgian politician in exile, who suggested it as a symbol of unity in a radio speech and the subsequent "V for Victory" campaign by the BBC.[2] It is sometimes made using both hands with upraised arms as United States President Dwight Eisenhower, and in imitation of him, Richard Nixon, used to do. (Warplanes would also commonly fly in a 'V' formation, similar to a flock of birds.)[citation needed]
Peace, or friend – used around the world by peace and counter-culture groups; popularized in the American peace movement of the 1960s. The commonality with the symbol's use from the 1940s was it meaning the "end of war".[citation needed]
V (the letter) – used when spelling in American Sign Language.[3]"
is that you end up being governed by inferiors. – Plato
Taler Custom Set
Ancient Custom Set
I'm kind of surprised there aren't any references to the use of the gesture before the 20th century, as this coin clearly indicates it was used long before that (and into ancient times, probably.) I am confident that in this context it was a ceremonial, priestly blessing rather than a casual social greeting. If the ancients used the gesture, it may have represented bull's horns.
I just found the figures on this coin, whimsical though they seem, to be very expressive and well-executed for a medieval coin of this period. I saw others of this basic type that were struck later, and they were far more crudely done.
is that you end up being governed by inferiors. – Plato
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<< <i>I'm kind of surprised there aren't any references to the use of the gesture before the 20th century, as this coin clearly indicates it was used long before that (and into ancient times, probably.) I am confident that in this context it was a ceremonial, priestly blessing rather than a casual social greeting. >>
St Blasius is, of course, raising his hand in blessing. According to the Byzantine and Old Believer Russian rites, when a bishop gives a blessing, he's supposed to hold the fingers of his hand in such a way as they form the letters ICXC (the old Greek abbreviation for "Jesus Christ"). There's an illustration of the hand posture at the bottom of this page.
I've always thought that this complicated hand-sign, when rendered crudely on mediaeval coins, looks more like they're getting ready to give something the flick. For example, the Hand of God is making the same gesture on this Trebizond coin:
These Ragusan grossi are difficult to find in top condition. That's because, with a picture of a saint on one side and of Christ Himself on the other, they made handy religious medals once a hole was punched in them. The vast majority of these pieces you find on the market these days have been holed.
As an aside, forum members who are fans of Conder Tokens may have their own example of an item featuring St Blasius. He is usually called "Bishop Blaze" in the token books. He's featured on Conder Tokens from certain cities where the wool industry was prominent because he, for reasons which are best described as "convoluted", is also the patron saint of wool-merchants.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded one DPOTD.
I'm struck by how relatively short and stubby St. Blasius' fingers appear in this rendering, considering how often medieval art showed people with extraordinarily large hands and long, exaggerated fingers.
For example, note the "Hand of God" at the top of this Metz gros (from a century or two later) which I used to own:
<< <i>I'm struck by how relatively short and stubby St. Blasius' fingers appear in this rendering, considering how often medieval art showed people with extraordinarily large hands and long, exaggerated fingers. >>
It's certainly a much more appealing coin, overall, than my own sorry example of a Ragusan grosso, dated to the period 1337-1438:
It's worn flat and been bleached white by whoever found it and cleaned it. It's also somehow managed to pick up a third "I" in RAGVSII. But at least it doesn't have a hole.
Note also on mine that the bishop's hand is much more typically mediaeval: overly large. And with those curvy fingers, he's definitely not making a "peace" sign.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded one DPOTD.
PS- and on your coin, Christ appears to be giving us an approving "thumbs up"