Well, at long last, I have come to the end of the multi-blog “examination” phase of the Da Vinci Coin. I have made observations on what I see (or BELIEVE I see) on the obverse and reverse of the coin, and have analyzed what these words and images might mean. I have also discussed what history I know in regards to the words and images on the coin as well as the history connected to the Da Vinci Coin itself.

However, when I say that I have come to the end of the examination phase of the Da Vinci Coin, what I really mean is….. for now! After all, new information and/or new insights could come to the fore, and naturally that would mean additional blog entries. But for now at least, I’m ready to do a short series of “Wrap Up” blogs on the Da Vinci Coin. The first of these is the today's blog entry: What Is Needed Next!

By the query/statement, What Is Needed Next, I mean just what is necessary in order for me/us to take strong steps forward in solving the Da Vinci Coin riddle? To that end, there are a few crucial questions that need to be answered, and by extension, some crucial information that needs to be tracked down. So without further ado, my list of What Is Needed Next:

An accurate or close-to-accurate estimation of the population of Da Vinci Coins out there.

This is key!

By referring to the population of Da Vinci Coins, I am not referring to the number of 1233-58 bronze dirhams struck at the al-Mowsil mint under the rule of Badr al-din Lu’ Lu’. I have already deduced that this coin type is common to fairly scarce—meaning there are enough numbers of photographed specimens out there to view/study and also enough to meet collector demand. In other words, they are not hard to track down.

However, the Da Vinci Coin die variety of 1233-58 dirhams of al-Mowsil does NOT appear to be out there in large numbers. In fact to date, I have (once again) found only two: my Da Vinci Coin and the one pictured in the 1998 Alex Malloy catalog. And even in the case of those two sibling coins, I believe my Da Vinci Coin (THUS FAR) stands alone in the blatancy of Ark of the Covenant imagery.

In short, It is CRUCIAL to determine as to whether other Da Vinci Coin die variety coins are out there. Maybe I just have not discovered where the numbers of such pieces are located. On the other hand, ARE there more than two pieces in existence? The answer to that question will go a long way as to determining the true uniqueness of the Da Vinci Coin. And this segues into my next ‘What Is Needed Next’:

If there ARE multiple Da Vinci Coins out there, how many of them have similar Ark of the Covenant/Mary with Christ Child imagery on them?

Let’s not misunderstand here—just because another similar-to-the-Da-Vinci-Coin die variety dirham exists out there, that does not necessarily mean that coin will exhibit the same distinct God emerging from the Ark via funnel cloud/Mary with Christ Child imagery. After all, even the Alex Malloy piece, which seems to be a die variety match of the Da Vinci Coin, does not exhibit the same crude Arabic script on the reverse as does the Da Vinci Coin—not to mention, no sign of a “hand of God” on the reverse either. Again, such a determination goes a long way in determining the uniqueness of the Da Vinci Coin.

Numismatic documentation on the Da Vinci Coin die variety of the 1233-58 al-Mowsil dirham.

This is directly related to the need to find more examples of pieces similar to my Da Vinci Coin and/or the 1998 Alex Malloy example. But while finding a SECOND sibling of my Da Vinci Coin would help in determining that other examples exist out there, just finding a physical or illustrated example only goes that far. What would REALLY advance the investigation in this regard, would be numismatic and/or documentation regarding the design imagery and Arabic legend/inscription found on the face of this particular die variety. Of course scholarly facts and evidence would be the most helpful kind of documentation, but even, say, another numismatist recording his/her speculation as to what is behind the coin's imagery and words, would be helpful. Maybe someone ELSE in the past has pointed out that this variety of al-Mowsil dirham featured imagery that appeared to reference the Ark of the Covenant! If so, I would absolutely LOVE to know that-- if only to confirm that I'm not the only one who is "seeing things."

The Arabic script on the Da Vinci Coin reverse—truly Arabic? Or crude, untutored imitation?

Of course in previous blogs I have already recorded the steps I have taken in determining as to whether the Arabic inscription on the Da Vinci Coin reverse is truly standard Arabic, crudely-rendered Arabic, or untutored gibberish.

Thus far, what I gather from the three Arabic language experts who have viewed pics of the Da Vinci Coin reverse, is that there are no red flags regarding the Arabic script on the Da Vinci Coin reverse. Still, the crudity of the reverse “Arabic” inscription on my Da Vinci Coin still bothers me—it just does not seem to match the more graceful workmanship of other 1233-58 al-Mowsil dirhams (or even the Alex Malloy coin!) I have seen.

This could be because my Da Vinci Coin is a Christian Crusader or Mongol imitation of a contemporary 13th century Turkoman dirham coin. But it could also be because this die variety was produced by a less-than-skilled Turkish or Nestorian Christian coin maker.

In short, I STILL would like to be certain that the “Arabic” on my Da Vinci Coin is indeed standard and was not rendered by a Christian European or Mongol trying to imitate Arabic.

And last but not least……

I NEED THE ANSWER KEY!

More specifically, IF the Da Vinci Coin is communicating something about the Ark of the Covenant, I need the Answer Key! Those of you were teachers—or assisted teachers—in the olden days, remember when you had to grade, say, a Multiple Choice test and it was crucial to have the Answer Key? That way a teacher OR a layman could accurately grade that multiple choice test or True-False test quickly and accurately.

Well, that’s what I need for my Da Vinci Coin to end endless speculation, guessing, analyzing, theorizing, stabs-in-the-dark, musings, etc.

I need a medieval document that records the creation of a coin—struck in 13th century al-Mowsil-- that covertly communicates the location of the Biblical Ark of the Covenant.

I need to track down a stain-glass window in a French medieval cathedral that portrays the exact same God-emerging-from-the Ark-via-funnel-cloud while the INVERTED imagery is that of Mary-with-Christ-Child—and then there would be wording along the edge of this stain glass window artwork that says something about the Crusaders having found the Ark of the Covenant!

I need a linguist to come forward who can conclusively prove that the Da Vinci Coin reverse inscription is actually a hybrid of Arabic and Hebrew—and that it states something about the Ark being hidden beneath a church in Jerusalem!

I need to track down a dusty aged Freemasons book that actually pictures the Da Vinci Coin and discloses its historical connection to the Knights Templar of the Crusader period!

It would also help to know for sure as to whether the Da Vinci Coin’s apparent Ark of the Covenant/Mary with Christ imagery is truly an accidental and coincidental result of happenstance wear/corrosion… or perhaps deliberate tooling after-the-fact. Or..(and you secular humanist are going to love this one) perhaps deliberate divine design somehow put this imagery onto the Da Vinci Coin! Of course, that would actually be the same scenario as after-the-fact-tooling, only God would have done the tooling, not a medieval Crusader.

Well, I have yet to find such earth-shaking smoking gun Answer Keys. Perhaps they don’t exist at all—which is all the more likely. Which means I (we) will have to continue to take baby steps in our quest to solve the Da Vinci Coin riddle. All I know is, until it is conclusively proved that the Da Vinci Coin has no Ark of the Covenant connections whatsoever, I will continue to take those baby steps.

By the way, anybody catch last night’s (January 5, 2016) episode of Curse of Oak Island on the History Channel? Of course they’re still digging for the treasure, they are about to send down a diver into a narrow underwater tunnel, etc. But the part of the episode that really caught my attention was the theorist who was brought in to talk to the treasure hunter brothers. This theorist not only believes that the Ark of the Covenant truly is buries at Oak Island, but he laid out his case that it was actually Christopher Columbus (whose wife had blood connections to the Portuguese Knights Templar) who brought the Ark of the Covenant—and other valuable holy relics—over to the Americas to be buried and kept there!

Ok, I’m not convinced, but the historical case laid out by this theorist was indeed compelling to listen to. I guess we’ll see (hopefully) by the time the series concludes.

As far as the picture at the top of this post, I can't recall if I posted a pic of this medallion in a previous entry, but I thought I would post it anyway. This is an old 17th or 18th century brass Catholic medallion -- whether Italian or Spanish, I am not sure-- that I purchased at the same coin show where I obtained the Da Vinci Coin. To me, this was one of my more interesting purchases because I recognized it as the type of religious medallion often found in old California mission contexts.

The Da Vinci Coin Mystery: What Is Needed Next

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

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

The Lost Ark of the Covenant and The Da Vinci Coin: A Summation of My Case (So Far)

Todd Cook