The E-Sylum:  Volume 6, Number 3, January 19, 2003, Article 13

ST. NICK'S COINS?

  While looking for other things on the web I came across
  a reference to St. Nicholas delivering "bags of coins".  Since
  we just discussed St. Nick on paper money a few issues ago,
  I thought I'd write it up.  Is anyone familiar enough with the
  origins of the figure to confirm that he delivered coins before
  morphing into the modern concept of Santa Claus?

  The article by Richard O'Mara was published January 5,
  2003 in The Baltimore Sun.  Titled "An American in Turkey"
  it's a travelogue of a recent trip there.

  "At Antalya, on the Turkish Riviera, we rested by the sea.
  A museum there holds a relic, a bone from the jaw of a 4th-
  century bishop thought to be the St. Nicholas who gave rise
  to the legend of Santa Claus. He was known for providing
  dowries to impoverished young girls, dropping bags of coins
  down their chimneys."

http://www.sunspot.net/travel/bal-tr.turkey05jan05,0,774925.story?coll=bal-artslife-travel

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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