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 Replies: 12 / Views: 4,267 |
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
I had this piece for a number of years and had labeled it as an unknown Byzantine lead seal. Until yesterday when I read a thread on another forum about True Cross Tokens. The photos shown looked a lot like my piece, so I went back to mine and saw that it wasn't made of lead at all and was identical to there photos. Needless to say I am thrilled to have this piece for it's historic and religious meaning. During the 7th century Rhsru II of the Sassanian empire captured jerusalem and took as a prize the true cross of Christ. The Byzantine emperor Heraclius retook Jerusalem and returned the true cross. To commemorate this event a small piece of the wood from the cross was removed and burnt. The ash was added to the clay hardened and these tokens were made and sold to pilgrims to the city.   |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
I have read about the relics from Byzantine and the later middle ages, and their place in religion. Reliquaries were prized objects for churches and cathedrals, and were often themselves the object of pilgrimages. It's very interesting to actually own a piece that could be considered an early relic!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1315 Posts |
That's nice you know what it is now, after all this time. What a surprise.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
I have no idea (and I don't really want to know) how religious you are, but I am. If this were my token, knowing it's history and not knowing it's worth, I would be tempted to gift this to my church if they were interested. During my travels, in Europe especially, I have visited many churches who claimed to have a relic of this or that and that was their only claim to fame. Here, we have a token, arguably with a traceable history as a religious relic. What a great find.
Now, the key words above are "tempted" and "if interested". I am by no means suggesting you do anything other than what you want with this token. Congrats on the discovery
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
This piece without a doubt has become the most important piece in my collection. I have no idea of it's value, nor do I care. The only thing that I will say is this has very deep meaning to me and I will never part with it. I will pass on to my children.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
Wow, that's awesome! Such a great history behind it!
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
That really is a great find.
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Thanks Gil-galad, frankly I thought this Byzantine relic might have had more comments but I guess it could be a stickly subject to comment on.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
I just imagine back when this coin was made. Some officials or other peddlers standing out in the street saying "Get this holy coin right now, it will cure you of any malady. This coin was made from the ashes of the true cross of Christ!"
Edited by Gil-galad
02/19/2012 1:53 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
You covered everything I could hope to read about these interesting tokens. |
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
From what I gather these where made by order of the emperor so I don't think they would have been sold on the open market. But than again very little is known about them so it could be possible to find them sold that way.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
Quote:
You covered everything I could hope to read about these interesting tokens.  |
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Replies: 12 / Views: 4,267 |
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Posted 02/17/2012 5:11 pm
