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Ancient Coins

“Widow’s Mite” Biblical Coin

Authentic Ancient  “Widow’s Mite” Biblical Coin

Widows Mite Coin (premium) $65

Ancient Biblical Bronze Coin dating more than 2000 years (103 – 76 BCE)

Own a piece of real history!

This authentic 2000+ year old small coin known as a “lepton”, was issued by King Alexander Janneus of Judea and was the lowest valued coin in use during the lifetime of Jesus Christ. The contribution of two such small coins was given by a poor widow to the Temple. Found at archaeological excavations in Jerusalem.

 The Lesson of the widow’s mite is presented in the Synoptic Gospels (Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4), in which Jesus is teaching at the Temple in Jerusalem. The Gospel of Mark specifies that two mites (Greek lepta) are together worth a quadrans, the smallest Roman coin. A lepton was the smallest and least valuable coin in circulation in Palestine, worth about six minutes of an average daily wage. In the story, a widow donates two small coins, while wealthy people donate much more. Jesus explains to his disciples that the small sacrifices of the poor mean more to God than the extravagant donations of the rich.

Witnessing the donations made by the rich men, Jesus highlights how a poor widow donates only two mites, the least valuable coins available at the time. But, Jesus observes, this sum was everything she had to her name, while the other people give only a small portion of their own wealth.

The traditional interpretation of the passage is that God accounts the value of a gift not by how much is given, but by how much is kept back. The value of a gift to God, is determined by the nature of the intention of giving rather than what the gift can actually accomplish. Hence, the poor widow is counted as having given a great gift, having kept nothing for herself, while those who give out of their abundance but keep plenty for themselves are counted by God as having given very little. While the passage may or may not be an encouragement to live in poverty, it is certainly an encouragement to give generously.

Licensed antiquity excavated from Jerusalem, Israel

Each bronze coin uniquely hand-struck using crude minting tools from ancient times

This coin hand-picked from a huge lot for its quality, patina, and overall appeal

MUCH NICER THAN USUALLY ENCOUNTERED!!

The symbols often used:

anchor, a symbol of commerce

eight-rayed star, symbolizing heaven

Greek and Ancient Jewish lettering can be found on some of these coins as issued – inscription of the first Jewish King and High Priest, Alexander Janneus

Some coins may still exhibit earth deposits from the Holy Land

Wonderful treasure as a keepsake or gift

Widows Mite Coin (premium) $65

 

USA Coins

2016 Liberty Silver Medal – a real winner

2016-American-Liberty-Silver-Medals-and-Packaging-510x336

With the Rio Olympic athletes collecting their winning medals , the real winner of medals of 2016 may in fact be the Silver Liberty Medal available from the US Mint today which sold out within 6 minutes! Let me give you a quick understanding why this was a guaranteed winner:

  1. This medal bears the same modern design as issued on the 2015 Gold Liberty $100 coin at a fraction of the price.uh8_c
  2. The silver medal was offered at a low price point relatively speaking for a 1 ounce silver bullion issue. More importantly however, is the extremely low mintage, 12,500 pieces of each mint, San Francisco and West Point. The  total of 25,000 is a very low number considering it appeals to customers who couldn’t afford the 1 ounce gold issue, and equally desirable for those who could add this medal to complement their modern Liberty in gold.
  3. The fact that it’s a medal and not a legal tender coin is mute, since modern coins are for all intents and purposes medals. The technical denomination is near meaningless on modern issues as they never enter circulation. Comparing this one ounce silver bullion medal of 25,000 to the annual output of many tens of millions silver one ounce eagle bullion coins makes this one of the best buys available on the modern bullion market.

As a first year issue, we don’t yet know the Mint’s plan for the future, but a 2016 dated low mintage silver round will only appreciate in value.

The success of this silver medal will also put buying pressure on the gold coin issued in 2015.

Ebay sales on the first day have already demonstrated hefty premium and climbing as secondary market is at the moment very strong. With many being submitted for Grading by NGC & PCGS, we may yet see four figure price values. Time will tell!