You probably know the Bible says "and beat all the weapons into plow shares." You've probably heard the wartime tales of governments taking church bells in the late 1600s to early 1800s, melting them down and using the metal to create more cannon for use on the battlefield, and the peacetime stories of melting down cannons to create church bells. What about government's necessity in war time and/or inflation to melt church bells to mint money ? Do you know how the citizens of Zwole, an important community in the Netherlands, came to be known as Bluefingers A commerce and trade rivalry with neighboring city, Kampen started it all. Here's the story. Zwolle became financially strapped for cash. After many meetings between the the leaders of Zwolle and Kampen, Kampen's governing body indicated they were interested in purchasing the bells of Saint Michael's Church. After a few weeks of discussion, Zwolle acquiesced and agreed among themselves to sell the bells to Kampen. They did not want Kampen to reap a lot of profit from the deal, so they asked a dear price for the bells. Kampen accepted on the condition they could choose their own way of paying for the church bells. Zwolle consented, but added the stipulation, the deal would not be consumated until their own financial committee counted the money. Kampen paid for the church bells with copper coins of four duiten (equal to 2-and-a-half-guilders). There were so many coins, that the committeemen's fingers turned blue from counting all those copper coins! You, also, probably have heard about the gunmoney James issued during his Irish campaign against William of Orange. What you may not know it wasn't guns that were silent while his campaign raged on, but church belfries. See http://www.irishcoinage.com/L00002.htm DATELINE: Copenhagen, Denmark - 1808. Early in the Spring the Danish government found itself in the midst of rampant inflation and that it's stores of copper for making coins was too low to begin. An agreement was reached with the Our Lady of Copenhagen Church to remove the copper sheeting from the roof of the church to strike those coins. DATELINE: April 18, 1823 Port Royal. Today the new bell arrived from France. The previous bell of Church Point was destroyed in a fire. The creation of this bell for Church Point Parish was the culmination of a desire shared by Father Sigogne and his parishioners. During the first years of Father Sigogne's arrival at Port Royal, the faithful, under the priest's leadership, donated enough old copper coins for melting to have a new bell cast. DATELINE: June 8, 1954. The people of Nippon (Japan) presented the Japanese Peace Bell to the United Nations The bell is housed in a Japanese cypress wood structure, resembling a Shinto Shrine in New York City at 42nd Street and First Avenue. Israel donated the stone base for the structure. A Japanese inscription on one side of the bell reads, "Long live absolute world peace." The bell weighs 116 killograms, is 1 meter high and 0.6 meter in diameter. The bell is made of metal donated by the delegates of the 60 nations (Japan was not yet a member of the UN) attending the 13th General Conference of United Nations Associations held in Paris in 1951. Now here's the numismatic link: The metal comprising the bell is from coins collected by children living within those 60 nations! The following facts are not of a numismatic nature, but I thought you may find them interesting too. 1. The use of bells came to China between 2001 and 2000 B.C. 2. The earliest Biblical mention of bells is in the second book (Exodus) of the Old Testiment, Chapter 28 verses 33 and 34. The Levitical High Priests wore bells on their vestments. 3. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, in Campania, Italy is believed to have been the first one who introduced bells to church services during 353 to 431 A.D. 4. The Abbot of Wearmouth, Benedict, was first (680 A.D.) to bring an Italian bell to England. 5. The largest bell in the world is a 200 ton bell that stands 19 feet high and has a circumference of 60 feet. It's at the Tsar Kolokal in Moscow. 6. Notre Dame's bell in Paris weighs out at a mere 17 tons. 7. The highest hanging set of bells (four, weighing 7 tons) are in New York City. They are referred to as the Westminster Peal and are hung in the Metropolitan Life Insurance Building. Because you have read this trivia this far here's an extra bit of numismatic knowledge: When a bell is first tested if it doesn't "ring true" it is remelted and recast. If a coin is dropped from about 5 inches onto a table a genuine coin is said to "ring true," but a fake or counterfeit one will not "ring true." Clinker
Thanks again for the excellent history. I've visited the world's largest operational bell, which is a short boat ride upriver from Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar) in the the Mingun pagoda. It is about 90 metric tons and resonates beautifully.
Krasnaya Vityaz,there was also a Russian cannon that was never fired.Had it been,it would have blown up & killing those manning it in the process.As to the Tsar Kolokol,the broken piece from the bell was mounted separately.I think that is is also in the grounds of the Kremlin in Moscow.I think the word 'Kreml',which means 'fortified castle' is where we get the word 'Kremlin' from. Aidan.
The gun is not far from Tsar bell. I think it amazing that I. Stalin never had destroyed these relics. He destroy so much in rest of country, but not in Moskva.
Krasnaya Vityaz,we can also be fortunate that a lot of the Czarist palaces in St. Petersburg weren't pulled down as well.There is a plan to restore the Alexander Palace in St. Petersburg.The Hermitage & the Winter Palace are the most famous ones in St. Petersburg,but there is a palace in what was Tsarskoye Selo (which means 'Czar's Village' in Russian. I wonder if there has been any Czarist palaces that have been depicted on coins,apart from the Kremlin in Moscow. Aidan.
