Religious Coins From Around The World

As such, I think the Holey Dollar of Australia qualifies aswell!






On a more serious note, here's an Iranian coin:

Image courtesy of Numista.com

I actually have some cool early Christian coins to share, but no pics handy yet - planning to get better organized and take images this summer

Here's one from the heartland of Buddhism, displaying the famous religious inclusionism of ancient India

Kuninda kingdom (NE India, Himalayas)
Amoghabhuti, c. Late 2nd century BC
AR Drachm
Obv: Stag standing right, Lakshmi standing left holding flower. Brahmi "Rajnah Kunindasya Amoghabhutisya maharajasya"
Rev: Six-mound stupa, surrounded by Triratna (top), Bodhi tree (right), swastika (top left), and a "standard" whose meaning has been lost. Kharosthi transliteration of obverse legend.



Lakshmi on the obverse is the goddess of wealth and consort of the Lord Vishnu; she is particularly popular on coinage of antiquity and the middle ages.

Triratna: The Three Jewels of Buddhism: Buddha, Dharma (cosmic order and law) and Sangha (community and assembly). Depicted as a Trident and rod atop a lotus flower

Stupa: A mound-like structure that hold sacred relics; a place for meditation

Swastika: Symbol for the Buddha, or for the eternal cyclic nature of reality

Bodhi Tree: Where Buddha achieved Enlightenment. It has been kept alive through clippings since 2500 BC, and traditionally has been surrounded by a fence to protect it from harm.

The "standard" symbol has not survived, and is not convincingly been described in contemporary literature.

Huh, thought any mention of religion was a no-no?

In this context with numismatics it is okay.

Vatican - 50 Lire - 1988 - Creation of Eve from Adam's rib John Paul II .

That is a great coin, dorado!
Not surprising that Vatican City (and Papal States before) have many coins with religious images, but most are Christian-themed.
For Old Testament themes, on another thread, a link to a Roman coin with Noah's ark was posted: http://goccf.com/t/315143

I'll post one of my only Vatican City coins, 5 Lire 1940, which shows St. Peter in a small fishing boat:

Back to classical antiquity:

Here is a silver denarius of emperor Caracalla (211-217) showing Asclepius, the God of Healing



Asclepius was a son of Apollo, regarded in mythology as a demigod and hero until he was smitten (smoten?) by Zeus, who feared that humans would be immortal under his care. He was thereafter deified. His symbol is a serpent-entwined staff, still the symbol of medicine to this day. (Not to be confused however with the caduceus or double-entwined staff carried by Hermes!)

Curiously, Asclepius is not a common sight on Roman coins, although his daughter Salus is one of the most common goddesses. Salus was the goddess of well-being and health (in the most vague use of the word) and her placement on coinage was either a testament to the health of Rome, or a promise to improve the condition. Her mythological job was to keep her father's snake fed and happy when it wasn't on magical stick duty. She is usually seen feeding it from a patera, or sacrificial libation dish:

@tdziemia, come to the dark side!

Another one off the beaten path, from the Kushan Empire that controlled half of the Silk Road along what is today Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern India, and a lot of Central Asia.

Kanishka I (c.130-150)
Bronze "Tetradrachm"
Obv: Kanishka, full body, standing and sacrificing at an altar
Rev: Athsho, God of Metals, holding diadem



The Kushans were originally a confederation of tribes driven out of China by the destruction of the Han-Xiongnu wars (Timeframe of Disney's Mulan). They settled in northern India under the Greeks and Scythians until around the turn of the first century AD when they suddenly rose to become the dominant empire of the region. Initially imitating Greek coins showing Greek deities, they developed their own flavor of numismatic art, celebrating a pantheon of over 30 deities, including Greek, Hindu and pre-Zoroastrian Iranian gods, and even Buddha. Sadly, little remains of the details of their religion, except for coinage.

Athsho was the "god of metals", believed to be a synthesis of Atar, a primitive Iranian fire deity, and the more familiar smith god Hephaestus/Vulcan.