Coins in Movies - Sahara (2005)

WillieBoyd2 · July 26, 2013 11:58PM

I finally got around to watching this film, which involves a modern-day treasure hunt
in Africa for an 1865 Confederate battleship.

The treasure hunters are led to the ship by a "Confederate gold dollar" found in Mali.

The film coin is played by a prop coin of a Confederate $20 coin,
apparently more than one design was used.

I put a writeup and some pictures on my website under "Coins in Movies".

CaptHenway · July 27, 2013 12:50AM

Nice website. I liked the "Coins in Movies" page.

It amazes me how Hollywood just doesn't care about facts when it is making movies. Take "Sahara," for example. The CSA had no gold in 1865, it had no "battleships," and the dialogue you quote had one of these 1864-dated coins being given by Jefferson Davis to Stonewall Jackson, who died in 1863.

ricko · July 27, 2013 2:04AM

Never let facts get in the way...... the movie industry is filled with this type of misleading information. Much like so-called reality shows... pure fabrication. Cheers, RickO

DaveG · July 27, 2013 3:56AM

Hey, don't blame Hollywood - their source material (the original novel) was just as silly.

Who would believe a plan to kidnap President Lincoln and carry him away across the Atlantic on a Confederate ironclad?

As I recall, the early ironclads (especially the Confederate ones) were not seaworthy at all!

dcarr · July 27, 2013 6:38AM

This is what the coin might have really looked like, had any actually been made:

CaptHenway · July 27, 2013 7:14AM

Seriously, you should spread the word around Hollywood that you are available to make movie prop money that might actually look appropriate to the movie.

CoinRaritiesOnline · July 27, 2013 10:02AM

I'm shocked that anyone could discuss this movie without once mentioning Penelope Cruz.

DaveG · July 27, 2013 12:31PM

CRO,

The failure to mention Penelope Cruz is how you know that you're on a coin forum and a bunch of coin collectors are posting!

CaptHenway · July 27, 2013 12:39PM

<< I'm shocked that anyone could discuss this movie without once mentioning Penelope Cruz. >>

The proverbial "Scenic Cruz?"

WillieBoyd2 · July 27, 2013 2:39PM

OK, I will mention Penélope Cruz.

lordmarcovan · July 27, 2013 3:17PM

I read the book, years ago. Clive Cussler can spin a good yarn, but his characters and over-the-top nature of the plots get stale with me very quickly.

I can only imagine how much further over the top Hollywood would take it.

On the other hand, his non-fiction books about underwater archaeology were very good reads.

LochNESS · July 27, 2013 3:53PM

<< It amazes me how Hollywood just doesn't care about facts ... >>

My dad has found a ton of these falsities in James Bond movies and Westerns, but I can recall none of them. I'll have to ask him someday to write them all down so I can post here.

<< Seriously, you should spread the word around Hollywood that you are available to make movie prop money that might actually look appropriate to the movie. >>

Genius. You should be his agent, Capt!

GotTheBug · July 27, 2013 9:04PM

My favorite part of Sahara was watching Dirk Pitt use the "gold dollar" as a screwdriver to detach the pickup truck bed from the back of the truck. All the time I was thinking to myself, gold's too soft to use that coin as a screwdriver! That, and, that's never going to make it into a slab after that kind of abuse....

LochNESS · July 29, 2013 3:04PM

OK, had to watch the movie and I must agree with GotTheBug ... the way they treated that "coin" was appalling ... First he tells us it's one of only five ever struck, then he proceeds to

- fondle it incessantly with bare hands including thumb rubs
- spin it like a top
- bang it repeatedly on a table [think "knocking on wood"]
- use as a screwdriver, as previously mentioned ... this one really turned my stomach!
- trade it for a getaway airplane to some random local (in the desert, no less) who will probably melt it or sell at BV

Perhaps the best (or worst?) part was the very end when ... spoiler alert ...

... they discover a pile of treasure chests containing hundreds of thousands more. I couldn't help but wonder, were they richer in the beginning when they held the one of only five specimens known to exist? or were they richer at the end, when it was basically worth only its weight in gold, but they had many more times the amount of gold.

dcarr · July 29, 2013 6:01PM

<< OK, had to watch the movie and I must agree with GotTheBug ... the way they treated that "coin" was appalling ... First he tells us it's one of only five ever struck, then he proceeds to

- fondle it incessantly with bare hands including thumb rubs
- spin it like a top
- bang it repeatedly on a table [think "knocking on wood"]
- use as a screwdriver, as previously mentioned ... this one really turned my stomach!
- trade it for a getaway airplane to some random local (in the desert, no less) who will probably melt it or sell at BV

Perhaps the best (or worst?) part was the very end when ... spoiler alert ...

... they discover a pile of treasure chests containing hundreds of thousands more. I couldn't help but wonder, were they richer in the beginning when they held the one of only five specimens known to exist? or were they richer at the end, when it was basically worth only its weight in gold, but they had many more times the amount of gold. >>

Well, you could always melt all but five of them - then you'd have 5 rare coins PLUS a bunch of gold.

thisnamztaken · July 29, 2013 6:40PM

Being old as dirt, my first thought upon seeing the thread title (and overlooking the stated year) was, "Oh, that was the old John Wayne movie from 1957". As DaveG mentioned, being on a coin forum with a bunch of coin collectors I completely forgot that Sophia Loren was also in that '57 version. Finally, I should probably also add that the Wayne-Loren version was actually called "Legend of the Lost".

Unknown · July 29, 2013 7:06PM

This content has been removed.

Flash · July 30, 2013 2:22AM

Clive Cussler is my favorite author. I have every book he's ever written. True, his stories are sometimes pretty far fetched, but they're a good read nonetheless. Sahara was an awful movie that didn't even come close to the book! The characters in the movie beared no resemblance whatsoever to how they are described in Cussler's books. Cussler was so disgusted about this sham of a movie that he has sworn to never allow another one of his books to make it to the big screen, which is a shame because, done right, many of his stories would make for some good entertainment.

dcarr · July 30, 2013 5:28AM

<< Clive Cussler is my favorite author. I have every book he's ever written. True, is stories are sometimes pretty far fetched, but they're a good read nonetheless. Sahara was an awful movie that didn't even come close to the book! The characters in the movie beared no resemblance whatsoever to how they are described in Cussler's books. Cussler was so disgusted about this sham of a movie that he has sworn to never allow another one of his books to make it to the big screen, which is a shame because, done right, many of his stories would make for some good entertainment. >>

Clive Cussler is a history buff. He was responsible for raising the Hunley (Confederate submarine).
Lietenant Dixon's remains were found in the ship, along with a very important coin:

"Another surprise occurred in 2002, when a researcher examining the area close to Lieutenant Dixon found a misshapen $20 gold piece, minted in 1860, with the inscription "Shiloh April 6, 1862 My life Preserver G. E. D." on a sanded-smooth area of the coin's reverse side, and a forensic anthropologist found a healed injury to Lt. Dixon's hip bone. The findings matched a legend, passed down in the family, that Dixon's sweetheart, Queenie Bennett, had given him the coin to protect him. Dixon had the coin with him at the Battle of Shiloh, where he was wounded in the thigh on April 6, 1862. The bullet struck the coin in his pocket, saving his leg and possibly his life. He had the gold coin engraved and carried it as a lucky charm."

Cussler is also a classic car enthusiast. His car collection is literally a musem (I've seen it).

LochNESS · July 30, 2013 4:40PM

If you like classic cars you MUST visit the museum at Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC. As for history, many of our presidents (more than a dozen) and countless famous persons have stayed there over the decades. It's equally as breathtaking as the Biltmore.

swhuck · July 31, 2013 6:22AM

<< OK, had to watch the movie and I must agree with GotTheBug ... the way they treated that "coin" was appalling ... First he tells us it's one of only five ever struck, then he proceeds to

- fondle it incessantly with bare hands including thumb rubs
- spin it like a top
- bang it repeatedly on a table [think "knocking on wood"]
- use as a screwdriver, as previously mentioned ... this one really turned my stomach!
- trade it for a getaway airplane to some random local (in the desert, no less) who will probably melt it or sell at BV

Perhaps the best (or worst?) part was the very end when ... spoiler alert ...

... they discover a pile of treasure chests containing hundreds of thousands more. I couldn't help but wonder, were they richer in the beginning when they held the one of only five specimens known to exist? or were they richer at the end, when it was basically worth only its weight in gold, but they had many more times the amount of gold. >>

The numismatics in this movie in general was atrocious. What makes this worse is that the first time I saw the movie was when I was on a road trip to Kansas City for the ANA show...

northcoin · August 1, 2013 7:35PM

Thanks for including the link to your website. Seeing your alternate topic of "Coins on Television" and the link that led to a 1972 Banacek show brought back memories. My brother was attending the Disney founded CALARTS in Valencia, California and the school was used as a set for one of the shows. By invitation I was there for the filming and I believe my vehicle parked in the school's parking lot shared screen time with the limo that Banacek was filmed in with his chauffeur at the wheel.

Trying to recall if the recent TV Series LOST featured coins in any of its episodes. I do have some prop money (Japanese Yen) from the show as pictured below. Interestingly it is only printed on one side of the two notes that bookend the unprinted ones in the center of the bundle.

CaptHenway · August 1, 2013 11:24PM

Kewl!

Coins in Movies - Sahara (2005)

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