Last week I asked if Noah's Ark had the subject of a coin before Armenia's new 2012 500 Dram coin. I figured the answer was an easy "yes", and now E-Sylum readers had identified several examples for us. These would make a nice adjunct to any Coins of the Bible collection. Thanks, everyone!
-Editor
Leon Saryan writes:
Noah's Ark appears on virtually every coin issued by the Republic of Armenia from 1994 to date. If the Republic's redesigned coat of arms is present on the coin, the Ark appears in the center of the shield resting upon the taller of the two peaks of Mt. Ararat.
Yossi Dotan writes:
All coins of Armenia, including the one depicted by you, feature the nation's coat-of-arms on the obverse. Its shield shows Mount Ararat. A short line on the top of the mountain represents the Ark.
Israel issued three coins in 5758 (1998 C.E.) that depict Noah in the Ark, stretching out his hand from the window to release a dove—1 new sheqel (KM-316), 2 new sheqalim (KM-317), and 10 new sheqalim (KM-319).
Niue issued a 1/33-dollar coin in 2010 (KM-481). The reverse depicts the Genesis story of the Flood as shown on the Sistine Chapel vault in the Vatican. The vault shows the Ark. The coin may have it as well.
Vatican City's 10 lire 1975 (Y-127) features Noah in the Ark looking at the dove returning to the Ark with a fresh olive leaf in its beak. The 20 euro 2002 (Y-361) depicts violent men and animals against the background of the Ark, prior to the Flood.
There is also a ducat of the city of Regensburg in Germany of 1649 (Fr.-2469a).
Of course, there may be many more.
Jay Galst writes:
The first coin with the depiction of Noah's ark was the Roman Provincial issue from Apamea in Phrygia 217-18 AD. Macrinus was the emperor on the obverse of this specimen.
This coin was displayed in the 2007 Exhibit: PICTURING THE BIBLE, THE EARLIEST CHRISTIAN ART, at the Kimball Art Museum in Ft Worth, Texas.
It was also in the 2008 Exhibit: ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLICITUDE - COLLECTING BY THE NEW YORK NUMISMATIC CLUB, at the ANS in New York City. This was in the inaugural exhibit in the new location of the ANS.
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: AUGUST 5, 2012: Armenia's New Noah's Ark Coin
(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n33a08.html)
Wayne Homren, Editor
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