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 Replies: 47 / Views: 1,846 |
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Valued Member
United States
162 Posts |
This might be a weird question, but given that most of these coins or antiques are very old, are you ever concerned that these carry with them certain energies that are "unclean", so to speak? If these coins could talk, who knows what they would say, and who knows what they have witnessed or been in the presence of. While the history is cool, there are a lot of haunted houses out there. Is this something you ever worry about? If so, what do you do about it? Sprinkle holy water on it? Cleanse it by fire? Ask a priest to perform an exorcism? Weird question, but just curious.
Cheers!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1360 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
162 Posts |
@NumismaticsFTW Well, this is kind of a serious question for me. Let's just say that I'm old enough to tell the difference between movies and real life.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1360 Posts |
But young enough to worry about ghosts, got it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6752 Posts |
i worry about my health, my family's safety and my truck not starting.
Coins and paper money maybe having some bad juju is not on my list.
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Valued Member
United States
472 Posts |
I've had some thoughts about this, although not exactly on the same line as yours. It's probably all mumbo jumbo, but...Silver is known for its purity and healing properties. I feel intuitively that silver repels the kinds of things you're talking about because of its inherent cleanliness. It's used as colloidal silver and I believe that Jews traditionally used silver for ritual objects and for tableware on account of its purity and ability to resist contamination. It's also highly reflective, which to me seems to show that it bounces anything untoward away from itself.
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Valued Member
United States
162 Posts |
@NumismaticsFTW Well, it's obvious that you do not believe in ghosts, and I'm glad that you've never run across this. But not everyone who believes in these types of energies is necessarily young or misinformed.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2660 Posts |
Quote:
Cleanse it by fire? Ask a priest to perform an exorcism? Quote:
How old are you? Strange question followed by another strange question!  I drizzle all my coins with holy water. I used to cleanse with fire but that did more harm than good. In all seriousness, I don't really think that demons would want to occupy any old half dollar with Lady Liberty on the front, although I have heard some very chilling stories from a friend that has experience with demons, sacrifices, and possessed items. Like demon possessed beads that were in a young girls hair, and she was being dragged around on the floor by the beads. Scary and crazy stuff. 
Suffering from bust half fever. Want to learn how to attribute early half dollars by die variety? Click Here: http://goccf.com/t/434955Shoot me a PM if you are looking to sell bust halves. |
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Valued Member
United States
162 Posts |
My wife used to be a CNA at hospitals and assisted living facilities, where deaths are very common. She used to hear all sorts of stories and has experienced it a few times herself. For me personally, I will just say that ever since I started collecting, not just coins, but antique silver, I have started having weird dreams. When my brother-in-law stayed with us, he also told us that he had weird dreams, without us even asking about it or telling him about it. So I'm not saying it's necessarily because of the antiques, but the timing appears to be a very interesting coincidence. Hopefully I didn't share too much.
Edited by AllSeasons
02/07/2023 01:43 am
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Moderator
Australia
15066 Posts |
In terms of supernatural agents contaminating, infesting, possessing or otherwise occupying a coin, no. No worries here. In my worldview, supernatural entities cannot "haunt" physical objects.
In terms of coins, medallions or other objects that have been specifically designed by practitioners of certain belief systems to channel evil spirits, luck (good or bad) or some other form of supernatural energy, I tend to avoid owning them, not out of fear that they might affect me but out of objection to the continuing existence of those cults and not wishing to provide them with funds, directly or indirectly.
In terms of microorganisms and other pathogens, no. Coins are quite sterile, certainly in the long term. Byzantine coins dating from the Plague of Justinian in AD 542 are quite popular collectors items, and no-one has ever caught the plague from handling such a coin.
In terms of toxic heavy metals, of course, yes. You should always wash your hands with soap after handling coins, especially if you do not know their composition. There are Chinese counterfeits I own which I strongly suspect contain restricted toxic heavy metals like mercury and arsenic, that I would be reluctant to touch at all without gloves.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2660 Posts |
Quote:
There are Chinese counterfeits I own which I strongly suspect contain restricted toxic heavy metals like mercury and arsenic, that I would be reluctant to touch at all without gloves. Oooo this never crossed my mind. Good thought.
Suffering from bust half fever. Want to learn how to attribute early half dollars by die variety? Click Here: http://goccf.com/t/434955Shoot me a PM if you are looking to sell bust halves. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1524 Posts |
Very well said, Sap. I'll just leave it at that.
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Valued Member
Australia
490 Posts |
The idea that a coin might have supernatural power is not new.
I believe that the term is a "touch piece".
Quite interesting.
Watch your top knot
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Pillar of the Community
United States
9728 Posts |
l said @sap - I'll echo that wise answer.
Take a look at my other hobby ... http://www.jk-dk.artToo many hobbies .... too much work .... not enough time. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
11655 Posts |
Never really crossed my mind but there are definitely some coins associated with luck and magic. In the UK silver sixpences were bent and used as love tokens and brides would put one in her shoe. I think there is a tradition in Bangkok where worshippers put one 25-satang coin in each of numerous bowls around a temple for luck.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11198 Posts |
'Clean' is relative--has many meanings/dimensions/implications across cultures.
One of my tasks today is to clean my unclean car--off to the car wash this afternoon (where I will use circulated quarters).
Edited by ijn1944
02/07/2023 06:50 am
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Replies: 47 / Views: 1,846 |
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Posted 02/07/2023 01:20 am
