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 Replies: 7 / Views: 1,893 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
524 Posts |
Please help ID coin/medal in 1950 film "King Solomon's Mines" I watched today the DVD of the 1950 film "King Solomon's Mines" which starred Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr and was filmed in Africa. About 4 minutes into the film, professional safari hunter Stewart Granger's assistant is killed by an elephant and Stewart removes a decoration from the man's neck to give to his wife. The decoration looks like two silver dollar sized coins or medals attached to beads. These are the best screen captures that I can get from the DVD. Anyone have an idea what the coins or medals are?   ___________________________________________________________ Check out my website at: http://www.brianrxm.comRoman Coins, Mexican Coins, Favorite Coins, Movie Coins The San Francisco Mint 1949 Mexico Peso Restrike |
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Moderator
 Australia
16809 Posts |
I'm starting from the assumption that it was something actually from somewhere in eastern Africa, or at least a movie prop designed to look like one. The obverse visible on the lower medal appears to show a bearded gent in some kind of hat or helmet. The German East Africa silver rupie came to mind, but the Kaiser's facing the wrong way; it could be a German medal, though the mount looks "unofficial". Another alternative is Ethiopia. The Ethiopian silver birr is a pretty close match, from what I can make out. 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
3499 Posts |
Sap- Good catch! That would have been my guess too. Since a loop has been soldered to it, I surely hope that this was just a copy created by the prop department since these are so nice and rather scarce....but at the same time I'm fairly certain that in 1950 these carried little premium or collector interest and it would have been so much easier to destroy a real one than make a copy. While I'm saddened to see that they wrecked a nice coin like this,I must give the prop master a few kudos for using a coin from Africa rather than just using an old British Crown or US Peace dollar (The latter of which I have seen used as props in Westerns that were set in the 1860s). |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1152 Posts |
Ethiopian Birr fits perfectly!
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Moderator
Australia
16809 Posts |
Quote:
Archraz said:
...but at the same time I'm fairly certain that in 1950 these carried little premium or collector interest and it would have been so much easier to destroy a real one than make a copy. While I'm saddened to see that they wrecked a nice coin like this,I must give the prop master a few kudos for using a coin from Africa... It's also entirely possible that the prop master simply went down to the local bazaar and bought off the shelf some coins that had already been turned into an amulet, a genuine "local medallion". Perhaps they wouldn't even have known what it was, except that it "looked African" with foreign squiggles on it. 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
3499 Posts |
Sap- Very true! They may have just acquired a bunch of props that seemed "African" to use on the movie. I guess I don't feel so bad about this inclusion in the film. I think that this raises a good question about the accuracy of currency featured in movies. (hmm, has there already been a thread about that?)
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
524 Posts |
Thank all of you for your help in identifying the coin in the 1950 film "King Solomon's Mines" I thought it might be the silver dollar sized Ethiopia One Talari or Birr coin, but due to the poor quality of the images, I could not be sure. As the film was set in 1897 East Africa, one of these coins would date correctly as they were made from 1894 to 1904. I have an interest in coins used in movies and have a website with section devoted to this topic, it is at: http://www.brianrxm.com/htmdir/cnsmovies.htm___________________________________________________________ Check out my website at: http://www.brianrxm.comRoman Coins, Mexican Coins, Favorite Coins, Movie Coins The San Francisco Mint 1949 Mexico Peso Restrike https://www.brianrxm.comThe Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin Coins in Movies Coins on Television
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
willieboyd2- Absolutely awesome site! There actually are two movies that I think should be added to the list. 1. Interview with the Vampire. Near the beginning of the move the main character, Louis, is seen sitting around a table in a rather seedy establishment. Before he leaves the building (and is subsequently bitten and turned into a vampire by Lestat) one can clearly see a rather warn Colonial Spanish 8 Reales on the poker table. This is in fact historically accurate since 8's were, of course, the most frequently circulated coins in Colonial North America and since Louisiana, where the movie takes place, was a bustling commercial port by that time in the late 18th century. 2. The Untouchables (1987), which starred Kevin Costner, features a scene at the end of the film when Al Capone is brought to trial. At one point one of Capone's thugs (Who wore a white suit) is asked to empty his pockets by one security guard before entering the court room. He takes a few items out of his pocket, including a few Standing Liberty quarters, and tosses them on the table next to the guard. It should be noted that the movie does take place in the 1920s, of course, and yet the Standing Liberty quarters were very worn and low grade. I'm not sure if these quarters were just supposed to have seen a lot of circulation or if the prop department wanted period coins but didn't want to shell out cash for one of a higher grade. Edited by Archraz
10/27/2009 1:54 pm
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Replies: 7 / Views: 1,893 |
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Posted 10/25/2009 9:07 pm
