Judaica Gorlitz False Shekel Pidyon Haben Coin Hanukkah ✡Gelt Hebrew Medal Token

Description

Judaica Gorlitz False Shekel Pidyon Haben Coin Chanukah Gelt Hebrew
Medal Token
This Listing is for a
Hard to come by Censer False Shekel in
Good
Condition; See Scans
33mm (1.3125 inches); 8.86 grams
This
is the C
enser bowl with 13 total
rings;
the top
b
and
with
5 (Element) Rings; and the lower band with 8 rings (the 8 points of
the Compass).
The
P
omegranate
branch has 8 Berries (Fruits)
Notice
to Buyer
:
This is
not an original Shekel from the
First War of the Jews against the Romans in A.D. 66 – 70.
It
is what is called a “False Shekel” or “Censer Piece”;
produced from 1480 up through 1920.
Th
is
particular design is known to have been fabricated from 1890 through
1920; so I am comfortable
in
saying the piece is circa Late 19
TH
or Early 20
TH
Century (but I have no proof of the exact year).
Below
is a brief synopsis of the “False Shekel”
.
The
genuine, ancient shekel, struck during the First War of the Jews
against the Romans in A.D. 66 – 70,
was
a historically important coin, often revered as a relic of the Bible,
and it was imitated and reproduced for
centuries
afterwards. One large group of these shekel copies, sometimes
called ‘false shekels’ or ‘censer pieces’,
played
an indirect part in the creation of the modem State of Israel but
they have never been given the recognition
or
credit they deserve. Instead, these strange copies were considered to
be quaint tokens of an 19th century
religious
revival and a renewed interest in the Bible among Christians.
However, their history begins much
earlier
than this date and their origins or functions are far more
interesting. The story of these false shekels
or
censer pieces perhaps begins at a reproduction of the Holy Sepulcher
church in Prussia in 1480 with the
fabrication
of the first known copies and ends in England in 1917 with the famous
Balfour Declaration, a
document
that favored the creation of a homeland for the Jewish people in the
Land of Israel.
Some
of these imitations of the shekel were given the label, ‘censer
pieces’, because of a misinterpretation
of a
part of the design on the authentic coins. The ancient Hebrew
letters, S B (Shin Bet), representing the
date
of year two, located above the chalice on the obverse of the most
commonly found genuine shekel,
was
considered by the copiers to be smoke rising from the vessel.
Because of this, the chalice was
thought
to be a censer bowl containing burning incense.
The
purpose of this medal can only be speculated upon but such
shekel-like tokens usually served in the
European
Jewish communities as sentimental reminders of the ancient Jewish
homeland or as
Pidyon
Haben coins for the ceremony of the redemption of the first-born son.
Other
similar, shekel tokens were used as receipts for charitable payments
to the synagogue,
as
Chanukah Gelt, as badges of self- help societies, or as admission
tickets to holiday events.
As
many of these medals are found with suspension loops attached, they
may have also been
worn
as good luck charms or as amulets to ward of sickness and the ‘evil
eye’.
The
Meysel token resembles the authentic Shekel only slightly. As
usual, the designs of the chalice
and
pomegranate branch are stylized or misinterpreted so that fames seem
to be rising from the vessel
and
the pomegranate branch looks like a leafy limb. The legends are the
same as those on the authentic
shekel
but are given in the so-called modern, Hebrew, square or block
lettering.
The
Previous condensed Synopsis was taken from an article of the AINA
(American Israel Numismatic Association)
Titled:
“FALSE SHEKELS”, THE MEDALS THAT INFLUENCED MODERN
HISTORY
. By Marvin Tameanko
Regarding
Shipping:
EBay has recently
changed the way Buyers can Pay and Sellers Get their Proceeds.
For almost 20
years now, I have shipped my sold items the Day after the payment
clears.
With the
introduction of “Immediate payment with a Buy-It-Now”, I’ve
always given NEXT DAY SHIPPING.
However, with the
last sale I made AND EBAY’S NEW METHODS, I did not receive my
payment for FOUR DAYS.
Therefore, I have put a 4 day turnaround
time on all of my listings;
HOWEVER,
I
WILL SHIP THE ITEM THE DAY AFTER THE PROCEEDS HIT MY BANK
.
Sorry, but the
shipping costs come out of the Proceeds after eBay takes 12.55% OFF
THE TOP OF EVERYTHING.