Picking up right where I left off last time……. So I began to try and identify my coin. And after a couple of weeks, my best guess was that it might be a 12th century bronze coin of Aleppo in Syria.

My theory wasn’t based on a positive identification. I didn’t match the obverse and reverse (again, that’s the FRONT and the BACK) of the coin with picture plates in a book or catalog. It just seemed to me that the Byzantine styled front-facing figure on the obverse, combined with the Arabic inscription on the reverse, was somewhat similar in style to 12th century bronze coins struck in Aleppo for a good portion of the 12th century.

And as for the figure on the obverse, I figured my options were the following: a Byzantine ruler, a saint, the Virgin Mary, or Christ. MIND YOU—when it comes to Turkoman or Arab-world bronze coins, the coin makers were not paying homage to figures of Christian Byzantium or Christianity. They were merely borrowing them as coin design elements! Why? According to most experts, to make the coins somewhat familiar—and hence, more acceptable—to the pockets of Christian populations that yet resided in that part of the Muslim-controlled world. Same principle as why Christian crusaders struck coins with Arab-Muslim design elements while sojourning in largely Muslim territories.

I finally decided that my, admittedly, shadowy facing figure on the coin obverse was… the Virgin Mary. Not because any female features were evident, but because….1) there was a halo above her head and…2) the round bump poking above her shoulder had to be the head of Baby Jesus. MIND you (again)…. While the Virgin Mary is a common design motif on medieval period Byzantine coins, the Madonna and Christ Child—not so much. However, the Madonna and Christ Child (with the Baby Jesus cradled on her left shoulder as it appeared on my coin) was a VERY common motif in Byzantine mosaic art. Just Google “Virgin Mary Byzantine” sometime!

So…. I was pretty satisfied with my detective work up to that point. After a couple of weeks or so, I had come to the educated-guess-conclusion that my coin was a 12th century to 13th century coin of Aleppo (or at least some nearby locale) and featured a crude rendering of Mary and the Christ Child on the obverse.

I would keep researching of course, just not as intently. After all, at some point you have to give it a rest and accept the fact that you won’t have a completely positive ID until you actually come across an exact picture plate match of your piece. In other words, while I was still fairly sure that my coin was an Arab-struck coin of Aleppo struck under the Zangids (though also spelled, Zengids).

Who were the Zangids? The following brief description is provided courtesy of Britannica.com:

" Zangid Dynasty, Muslim Turkish dynasty that was founded by Zangī and which ruled northern Iraq (al-Jazīrah) and Syria in the period 1127–1222."

That said, I was still holding out hope that my coin was actually struck by European Crusaders. Again, that would mean my coin was much scarcer than would be a Zangid-struck bronze coin of the 1100s to 1200’s, and hence, worth more. But for the time being, I was fairly satisfied that my coin was a 12th to 13th century Zangid-struck bronze dirham (dirham meaning the coin’s designated denomination--- much like the designated denomination of our most humble U.S. coin would be a “cent”) of Aleppo.

With that I somewhat closed the book on my mystery medieval bronze coin--- but not quite all the way. I was still hoping a positive ID would jump out and bite me if I kept my eyes open.

It was right ‘round about this time that the story of the Da Vinci Coin takes a twist: it wasn't a Wow, look at THAT kind of twist, but rather more along the lines of Oops, silly me. But this mild case of mistaken identity would soon lead to something bigger.

And—if it’s any incentive—in the next blog entry we’ll get a glimpse of the Da Vinci Coin for the first time.

First Thoughts: It's Crusader Period... But is it a Crusader Coin?

MOVEMENT! ANOTHER DA VINCI COIN FOUND? A NEW TIME FRAME?

May 23: A Clue to the Makers of the Da Vinci Coin?

STOP THE PRESSES: New (Observational) Revelations About the Da Vinci Coin!

The Da Vinci Coin Last and Final Thoughts (For Now)

Special Bulletin: Another "Hand of God" Found on Another Turkoman Coin?

The Da Vinci Coin: Conclusions, Part I

Lessons From A Crusader Period Coin of Aleppo, Syria

The Da Vinci Coin Mystery: What Is Needed Next

Comparing the Da Vinci Coin and the Alex Malloy Coin (Are They Truly the Same?)

Todd Cook