Treasure Coin (Crusader) Question
coachbedford
Posts: 189
I will ask this in both the US and World Coin forums as a hypothetical.
Let's say a coin, struck by the Crusaders, is discovered. The coin depicts Crusader knights carrying away the Ark of the Covenant (that one from Indiana Jones). There is also a coded inscription HINTING that the Ark was found.
Maybe the coin is not unique-- there are say, less than 50 known. Is the coin itself valuable because of the Ark connection? Or is it only extra valuable if it truly leads to the discovery of the Ark?
Yes, I know it would have SOME value (three figures to low four figures) simply because its a Crusader-struck coin and is scarce-- but how much of a bump in value (if any) does it get because of the Ark reference?
Let's say a coin, struck by the Crusaders, is discovered. The coin depicts Crusader knights carrying away the Ark of the Covenant (that one from Indiana Jones). There is also a coded inscription HINTING that the Ark was found.
Maybe the coin is not unique-- there are say, less than 50 known. Is the coin itself valuable because of the Ark connection? Or is it only extra valuable if it truly leads to the discovery of the Ark?
Yes, I know it would have SOME value (three figures to low four figures) simply because its a Crusader-struck coin and is scarce-- but how much of a bump in value (if any) does it get because of the Ark reference?
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There are fairly common coins of the Kingdom of Jerusalem that allegedly depict the "Tower of David". But if you look at them, all you can see is a cross-hatched device that resembles a portcullis. In other mediaeval coins, the object on the reverse of Tournois-style silver deniers is often described as a "castle", but scholars still debate about exactly what it's supposed to be: a fortress, a church, a throne, a crown? We don't know. And since we also don't actually know what the Ark looked like, I'm having difficulty imagining how an object depicted on a coin could unambiguously be proved to be a depiction of the Ark.
Further, on the matter of inscriptions: they are likewise brief on mediaeval coins and, if highly abbreviated or "encoded", are open to debate as to exactly what they mean. It would have to be pretty blunt and unsubtle - say, "+ARCAM:FOEDERIS" or some such, for there to be any hope of academia accepting an "Ark" interpretation.
All that aside, I don't really see it adding much value. Since the Ark hasn't turned up yet, evidence that the Crusaders believed that they'd found the Ark would be evidence of just that: the belief, not the actual Ark. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church believes that they've had the True Ark all along, hidden in their cathedral in Axum; they won't let anyone go in to see it or run scientific tests on it, so no-one else believes them; any coins or artwork depicting the Axumite Ark wouldn't have extra value because of it.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
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If you have ever seen the classroom experiment, where everyone is given a blank sheet of paper and asked to draw an object that is described in words only (no image) ...
The only things we know about the Ark - including its visual description - are written in the 5 Books of Moses. So they are open to interpretation when being artistically rendered. Therefore I must unequivocally agree with Sapyx that it would be impossible to positively identify a drawing of the Ark unless the artist (or mint official, etc) were present to confirm that indeed it was their subject. Or if we had a written record from that time (primary evidence) stating that coin had the Ark depicted on it. And as Sapyx has pointed out, even if we DID know it was the Ark on the coin, it would not resemble anything like the actual Ark in real life, because the products at that time period were so crude.
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<< <i>NC is that Sela yours? That's a coin that I would love to have one day. I am not aware of other coins depicting the ark. >>
haha certainly not, those are 5 or 6 figure items when nice I believe
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Maybe the 1997 Alex Malloy piece was attributed wrong, I don't know. Or maybe mine (and that Alex Malloy one) are different die varieties from same period, same mint. Or maybe mine (and the Malloy piece) are period imitations struck by Crusaders or Mongols or....??
This is a coin type way outside the mainstream so hard to find concrete information on it. But hey, who wouldn't like to think they may have a piece/clue to the "Lost Ark" mystery?
We're definitely needing to see pictures of this one before we can add anything sensible to this discussion. If you can't figure out the picture attachment thing, shoot one of us a PM or e-mail and we can attach it for you.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded one DPOTD.