Search for the True Cross:5 Ancient Coins Historical Figures with the True Cross

Description

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Search for the True Cross
:
DESCRIPTION
:
This collection features Five Genuine Ancient Coins,
one from each of the Historical Figures Associated with the True Cross
Comes in a Beautiful Mahogany-like Wood Display Box with
Story card
and a
"Certificate of Authenticity"
Presented
in a Black Gift Box
Of the myriad holy relics in Christendom, none is as sacrosanct as the so-called True Cross—the
piece of wood on which Jesus Christ was crucified. While some historians doubt its authenticity,
the True Cross did exist. It was discovered in Jerusalem by St. Helena 300 years after the
Crucifixion, changed hands several times through the centuries, and vanished from recorded
history after the Second Crusade, when it was seized by the great Muslim warrior Saladin. This
remarkable collection features coins of the five historical figures who held the True Cross.
Pilate
was the Roman prefect who presided over the trial of Jesus. Although he could
find no crime worthy of crucifixion, and symbolically washed his hands of the decision, he
yielded to the demands of the Sanhedrin, condemning Jesus to die on the cross. Modern
scientists suggest the Crucifixion occurred on Friday, 3 April, 33 AD. The body of Christ and the
cross were placed in a tomb near Calvary. The cross lay undisturbed for three centuries.
In 326 AD, the Roman Empress
Helena
, mother of Constantine the Great, made a pilgrimage to
the Holy Land. Although she was in her eighties, she was spry, and she considered the visit her
duty as a pious Christian. Furthermore, as
Augusta Imperatrix
, she was charged with locating
lost relics from the time of Jesus.
The city of Jerusalem was still partially in ruins; two hundred years after the Emperor Hadrian
had viciously put down a Jewish uprising and laid waste to the city. On the site of Jesus’ tomb
near Calvary, the pagan Hadrian had erected a temple to Venus. Disgusted at the sacrilege,
Helena ordered the structure demolished. Touring the ruins after the demolition, she found the
remains of three crosses—the same three crosses, she believed, that were used at Calvary when
Jesus was put to death.
According to legend, Helena took the three relics to the bedside of a deathly ill woman. The first
two crosses had no medicinal properties, but when Helena touched the third cross against the
skin of the dying woman, the woman was immediately healed.
Helena then realized what she’d
found—the True Cross of Jesus.
In 335, five years after Helena’s death, the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher was completed on the
site, and the True Cross housed there. Pilgrims arrived almost immediately to venerate the relic,
and did so for the next three centuries. But because of its profound religious significance,
Jerusalem, then as now, was an unstable place.
In 614, the Sassanian Emperor
Khusrau II
—the last King of Persia before the Muslim conquest
of Iran—sacked the city and made off with the True Cross. Fourteen years later, the Byzantine
Emperor
Heraclius
recovered the lost artifact from Khusrau’s successor, the usurper
Shahrbaraz, returning it to its rightful place in J erusalem. Although the Muslims took
possession of the Holy Land in 638, the caliphs respected the sanctity of the Christian church
and left the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher unmolested. There the True Cross remained for five
and a half centuries.
The Crusaders took Jerusalem in 1099. They massacred the Muslims and J ews living in the city,
and made a palace of the mosque, but left the True Cross alone. In 1187, Saladin, the first sultan
of Egypt and Syria and the founder of the
Ayyubid dynasty
, expelled the Christians from
Jerusalem, winning the city after the Battle of Hattin. He removed the True Cross to Damascus,
where it presumably remains to this day, waiting to be discovered.
This collection features five genuine ancient coins, one from each of the historical
figures associated with the True Cross: a bronze prutah issued by Pontius Pilate, a
bronze nummus with the portrait of Helena minted by the sons of Constantine the
Great, an oversized Khusrau II silver dirham, a bronze 12 nummi coin from the reign
of Heraclius, and a bronze fals from the Ayyubid dynasty, founded by Saladin.
Data: Image shows typical coins , not to scale , listed from left to right:
1.
Pontius Pilate
bronze prutah: 3 ears bound barley/ ladle with Greek inscription, or Littus/ date within wreath;
W: 1.5-2.5g; D: 14-17mm
2.
Helena
bronze nummus: Draped bust of Helena/ Variations of pagan deities; W: 1-2.5g; D: 13.5-18mm
3.
Khusrau II
silver dirham: Khusrau II wears crown surmounted by globe/ Fire alter; W: 2.5-4g
D: 26-33mm
4.
Byzantine Heraclius
bronze 12 nummi: Heraclius and Heraclius Constantine/ I to lft, B to rt, lg cross on two steps in between; W: 3-5g; D: 15-18.5mm
5.
Ayyubid Dynasty
bronze fals: Islamic inscriptions; W: 1.5-5g; D: 17-23mm
Box measures: 4 3/ 8" x 5 3/ 8" x 1.25”
All coins in each set are protected in an archival capsule and beautifully displayed in a mahogany-like box.
The box set is accompanied with a story card, certificate of authenticity , and a black gift box.
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Comes in a Beautiful Mahogany-like Wood Display Box with
Story card
and a
"Certificate of Authenticity"
Presented
in a Black Gift Box
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