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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Plumbata, post: 3583814, member: 96864&quot;]Whoops ran afoul of the mods, apologies for stepping on any sensitive toes. To be fair it was a critique of culture(s) and postmodern deconstructionism, not politics. Certainly a fine line though depending on the reader&#039;s perspective and affection (or lack thereof) for Western Civilization so I&#039;ll be more careful in the future.</p><p><br /></p><p>Relevant to the heady early days of Christianity is what may be a contender for the very first <b>overtly</b> Christian coin type ever struck:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]956485[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]956486[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>A 0.8g 14mm Silver coin of Ezana, Ethiopian king of Axum (encompassing Northern Ethiopia and environs plus Yemen), who was converted to Christianity by the Syrian monk Saint Frumentius sometime in the 2nd quarter of the 4th century <b>A.D. </b>Interestingly, much of the country practiced a branch of Judaism prior to peaceful conversion to Christianity and most of the descendants of the ancient Jewish Ethiopians, known as Beta Israel, emigrated to Israel in the last quarter of the 20th century under Israel&#039;s Law of Return. It is cruddy right now but based on experience should clean up wonderfully once it arrives tomorrow.</p><p><br /></p><p>Chronologies for the history of the powerful but relatively mysterious Axumite kingdom are ambiguous but my sense is that these Christian coins started being struck sometime between <b>A.D.</b> 330-340. The reverse inscription reads: +TOV TO APECH TH XWPA &quot;May this (Holy Cross) please the country&quot; which is way more overt than the little cross control marks etc. snuck onto contemporary Roman coins. Not my prior cup of tea but I&#039;ve been completely enthralled by the history, culture, and architecture of Axum and will certainly perish if more of their relatively obscure coins aren&#039;t obtained soon.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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