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Research Coins: Electronic Auction

 
183, Lot: 233. Estimate $100.
Sold for $215. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

AXUM. Anonymous. Circa 340-425 AD. Æ 15mm (1.07 g, 7h). Draped bust right, wearing headcloth / Small cross within circle. Munro-Hay 52; BMC Aksum 90. Near VF, green patina, deposits.


The establishment of Christianity in Axum saw the beginning of active pilgrimage traffic between Ethiopia and the Holy Land. Pilgrims traveled down the Nile valley and then across to Palestine and Jerusalem. The pilgrims, of course, brought their coins with them, and the overt Christian symbolism appealed to the local communities through which they passed. As a result, Axumite bronze coins and local imitations of them saw considerable circulation in Egypt and Palestine. They have been found at numerous 4th to 6th century sites alongside Roman and Byzantine issues. A settlement of Coptic Ethiopian monks remains in Jerusalem to this day, their main shrine being on the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the only location permitted them by the more prominent Christian sects.