COINS, TOKENS AND MEDALS WITH IMAGES OF BOOKS
The E-Sylum (10/6/2013)
Book Content

Warwickshire Coventry Conder Token
"Conder" token, Warwickshire Coventry, DH-44 listed in Dalton & Hamer page 266. Courtesy of David Sklow.
To visit Dave's web site, see: www.finenumismaticbooks.com
Armenian Book Printing Coin
George Cuhaj writes:
Here is a recent NCLT from Armenia featuring books.

Louis Braille Bicentennial Dollar
Greg Adams writes:
How about this one from 2009 (Louis Braille Bicentennial)
State Quarters With Images of Books
Mark Borckardt writes:
A couple honorable mentions for the list of coins depicting books:
- The Alabama state quarter depicts Helen Keller with a braille book
- The Tennessee state quarter depicts a musical score
2012 American Platinum Eagle
Dennis Tucker writes:
The 2012 one-ounce Proof American Platinum Eagle has a book in its design. To quote the U.S. Mintâs literature: âIt depicts a vigilant minuteman from the Revolutionary War, representing the protection and defense of the country during its early days. The minuteman carries a rifle and a book, which symbolizes the importance of knowledge in defending our Nation.â
This coin is featured in Ed Moyâs upcoming American Gold and Platinum Eagles --- a coin with a book within a book about coins. It makes oneâs head spin!
Some Ancient Showing Books
Ed Hohertz writes:
A nice question that did not pique my interest until I saw the answers â all the examples given are relatively modern coins. So to look at some older ones, try Justinian II (Byzantine Empire, 685-695 A.D.) with Christ holding the book of the Gospels .
The predecessors of books are scrolls, and we find an end view of a scroll in the Ark of the Covenant on a Jewish coin of the Bar Kochba revolt (132-135 A.D.) .
Before that is a nice Roman Republic denarius with Clio, the Muse of History, holding an open scroll (56 B.C.) .
As an example of Greek coinage there is Homer holding a scroll in his left hand (Ionia, Kolophon, 50 B.C.) .
Finally, to go further back in time is this Greek coin from Syracuse, Sicily, with a female holding a scroll (216-215 B.C.) .
Photos are courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group, Inc.
To visit the CNG web site, see: www.cngcoins.com
Medals with Books
John Sallay writes:
In response to the query in the last couple editions of the E-Sylum regarding books on coins, I canât help but point out that there are easily several hundred, if not a few thousand medals with books included in the main devices. As a collector of school award medals, I must have at least a couple of hundred such medals myself.


The earliest medal showing a book that Iâm aware of is the 1642 silver school prize medal from Basel, Switzerland (M&H 39, Leu 1122). The obverse shows a full length figure of a boy who is reading an open book, while he is being crowned with a laurel wreath by an arm reaching down from the clouds above. The legend VIRTUTIS COMES GLORIA roughly translates as âFame is a companion of virtueâ.


The earliest medal that I know of showing only a book as the device is the Christâs Hospital (London) markersâ medals, which were issued for several decades to the school monitors beginning in 1755 (Grimshaw 1981, #89). The reverse shows an open Bible with the inscription âHEAR READ MARK LEARNâ, with the initials of the headmaster and date.
This phrase is taken from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer (Collect for the Second Sunday of Advent), âBLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest themâ¦â I certainly donât mean to compare any numismatic book to the Holy Bible, but perhaps this motto can be appreciated by even the most agnostic numismatic bibliomaniac as it may relate to books generally. Wellâ¦maybe not the âmarkâ part!
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: MORE COINS WITH IMAGES OF BOOKS (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n40a17.html)