As the Gospel of John puts it, Judas Iscariot “kept the common purse.” What may have been in the coin bag of Jesus that Judas managed, and occasionally embezzled? This session peeks inside the common purse to see what cash Jesus may have been carrying around with him. We will have examples of these coins from the research collection of the Centre for Coins, Culture and Religious History at St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane.
As part of the Jubilee celebration for Elizabeth II, The Age newspaper has published a beautifully illustrated story of portraits of the Queen on coins and banknotes over the past 70+ years. The story begins with her first appearance upon a Canadian banknote in 1935.
Among some recent additions to the CCCRH collection was another coin featuring Rome’s foundational myth of Romulus and Remus.
Unlike most coins with this motif, rather than focus on the mother wolf and twin boys, this example tells more of the story with the kindly shepherd standing to left and bird in the fog tree behind the mother wolf.
Here is the description of this coin from our online gallery:
Roman Republic, silver denarius. OBV: helmeted Roma to right. REV: she-wolf standing right with head to left, suckling Romulus & Remus, fig tree with birds in background, with standing figure (Faustulus the shepherd) at left facing right; FOSTLVS to left; [SEX POM] off the flan to r.; [ROMA] in exergue. MINT: Rome. DATE: 137 BCE.
Further details of the sixteenth-century medallion currently featured in the Cathedral Coins exhibition at St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane are now available:
Medallion. Ferdinand I (1556–64), Germany, cast metal, undated but c 1560 CE. OBV: Nativity scene: Infant Jesus in manger, Mary with mandorla, Joseph and magi adoring the Christ Child, while shepherds approach from left, all within a grand basilica structure; ox looking on; below R.BVEND 1578 (engraver). REV: Christ holds cross and gestures to chalice with host at his feet (left) and serpent (right) whose head is being crushed by the cross; EGO SVM VIA ET VERITAS NEMO VENIT AD PATREM NISI PER ME (I am the way and the truth … no one comes to the Father but through me). Löbbecke III, 295.
The Cathedral Coins exhibition at St John’s Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane has over 100 coins on permanent display, as well as two spaces for special displays featuring selected items.
During Lent, those featured display areas were used to showcase a set of first-century Roman nails as well as an iron spear.
As we move into the Great Fifty Days of Easter, these featured displays have been updated with items that celebrate the resurrection of Christ.
The first is a silver medallion made in Germany in 1578. It is 57 mm in diameter. It shows Christ holding the Cross and gesturing towards the bread and wine at his feet. The Latin words mean “I am the way and the truth. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
The other item is a bronze icon made in Russia about 1800. Although only 10 cm square it shows in great detail Christ descended to the dead where he pulls saints out of the mouth of a monster (Jonah’s whale). The saints ascend to be with Christ in heaven.
The Cathedral Coins are on permanent display and admission is free whenever the Cathedral is open for visitors, including before and after services.
The CCCRH Foundation now has a collection of 20 medieval Book of Hours manuscripts and the set has recently been made available as a travelling exhibition for loan to schools, faith communities and other community groups with an interest in medieval culture and religion.
View an online gallery with the current set Books of Hours.
More information about the collection, including a link to a PowerPoint file to accompany the exhibition when it is used with school students, visit the Exhibitions page of the Foundation website and scroll down to the Books of Hours exhibition..