Princeton University Gets "Jesus Coin"

Teresa Neumann : Dec 11, 2009
Matt Fair - New Jersey Times/Times of Trenton

"This was considered really shocking in its time, and it got reactions all over."

(Trenton, NJ)—A Byzantine gold coin from the seventh century issued by Emperor Justinian II is the first known coin to bear the image of Jesus on it. It is now on display in the Princeton University Numismatic Collection. (Photo: Coinlink.com)

Alan Stahl, the university's curator of numismatics, was quoted as saying the coin was a specimen valuable not only in terms of the coinage of the eastern Mediterranean in the Middle Ages, but in the history of all coinage.

"The most important thing is that it's the first time the image of Christ is used as the main image on the coin," he said, adding that this time, most coins had only featured portraits of the period's ruling emperor.

"This was considered really shocking in its time, and it got reactions all over," he added.