WORD OF THE WEEK: VASILOPITA

 

Word of the Week: Vasilopita

According to Google, vasilopita is a sweet New Year's Cake that is traditionally baked with a coin inside. Originating from Greek culture, the individual who receives the slice containing the coin is said to be blessed with good luck in the New Year. Newman Portal contains but a single mention of "vasilopita," from a November 1976 Danny Boy Enterprises mail bid sale. Loaned for scanning by Eric Schena, this run of sales featured terse cataloging, but conversely listed thousands of tokens and medals likely found cataloged nowhere else.

Lot 3672 of this sale was described as "Brass. Vasilopita token, crude imitation of a British sovereign." This piece was dated 1962 with the following lot being a similar piece dated 1965. A quick check of current eBay offerings reveals a possible match. The legend reads ??T???? ??? TH ??S???????, which I translate as "souvenir of the vasilopita."

Image: 1962 vasilopita token, imitating a George V British sovereign

Link to Danny Boy Enterprises auction sale catalogs on Newman Portal:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctioncompanydetail/510605

 

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