Coins with Religious Themes

Some nations still issue religious themed coins, but usually not circulating coins.  Commemorative coins may have a religious theme.  One of the first series of commemorative coins I became aware of is the Holy Helpers series, a five-coin series from Belarus that were issued in 2008.  The coins are silver, and each coin is embellished with four colorful stones as appropriate to an image consistent with the Eastern Orthodox religion.

The religion of Belarus is primarily Eastern Orthodoxy, so the four men and one woman depicted are Orthodox saints.  Is there a difference in Orthodoxy saints and Roman Catholic saints?  Well, the way the Roman Catholic Church canonizes saints is a rigorous process, and has been so for about a millennium.  But, in the early days for just over a millennium things were different.  A bishop or even a priest could simply declare a person a saint if the person lived a good, virtuous life.  When the new rules were established, the process was updated, and many of the old “saints” did not receive retroactive canonization.  They were not grandfathered in.  Since the Orthodox had split before this their declaration of sainthood remained with the old tradition, so there is now some overlapping saints and some that belong to only one of these two religions. 

If a person is not counted as a saint by either religion, it does not mean the person is not a saint in the true sense of being in Heaven.

The Wonders of Jesus Christ coin series is a set of rectangular coins.  It is a series of silver coins beautifully colorized that were issued by the Principality of Andorra in 2013.  These coins cover the highlights of the New Testament from the Wedding Feast at Canna to the Resurrection.

Andorra is a principality that is primarily Roman Catholic. 

Andorra mints commemorative coins in dinars, it’s now obsolete currency.  While Andorra used euros, it was not granted the right to mint euros when it adopted the currency, so it mints commemorative coins in dinars.  This is probably because it is not a member of the European Union.

One lengthy series of coins is the windows of Heaven coin series, which features stained glass inserted in cutouts in the coins.  The coins are silver, and the cutouts are the shape of the window represented.  Most are elongated straight on three sides with a curvature representing beams meeting at the top.  However, some are round if the shape of the window is round.

The windows depicted are from many old churches, and while many of these churches are Roman Catholic, not all are.  As an example, Westminster is among the churches.

This series is from Cook Islands. 

The Holy Windows coin series is a series similar to the Windows of Heaven series above, except instead of being round coins these are diamond shaped.  The issuing country is the Republic of Palau, an island nation in the Pacific.

These coins also have stained glass inset into cavities in the coins, and represent some of the most ornate stained glass windows found in churches and cathedrals.

In 2017, and continuing in 2018, the Austrian mint issued a four-coin series titled Guardian Angels.  These coins feature Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel. 

Michael, the protecting angel, defended Heaven itself.  Gabriel, the revealing angel, carried messages.  Raphael, the healing angel, is mentioned in Revelations as the angel who carries prayers to God’s throne.  Uriel, not recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, is the illuminating angel.  While other angels are mentioned in the Bible, it should be noted the Roman Catholic Church officially recognizes only the first three, but does not deny others.  The reason, I have read, is the Catholic Church limits the number of recognized angels to try to eliminate angel worship, since worship is reserved for God.  Apparently, there was such a movement some years ago.

In 2012 the Principality of Andorra issued a seven-coin series on the seven virtues.  Each virtue has its own coin.  These coins are shaped like church windows, and colorized beautifully, but differ from the stained glass coins above in that there is only an image of a window on each coin.

For many years, the Bank of Israel has issued new additions to the Biblical Art Coins series.  These coins depict stories from the Old Testament, which is known as the Torah to the Israelis. 

The silver coins in this series are a wealth of information. 

These coins are silver, and quite collectible.

The European Silver Programme, also called the Eurostar Programme and the European Silver Programme, started in 2004.  It is to have silver coins available to European collectors, and members of the European Union are allowed to participate or opt out annually.  Each year has a different theme.  In 2016 a five-year series on the Ages started within the series.  In 2018, the Baroque Age allowed participants to recognize art of that period, much of which is religious in nature.

Italy issued a coin honoring Veronica Wiping the Face of Jesus, and Malta issued a coin honoring the baptism of Jesus.  Technically, the coins depict the pieces of Baroque art.

Many other coins depict religion.  The British have Saint George on the Sovereign which is the gold bullion coin, and the silver bullion Valiant.

Coins depicting art often appear, and occasionally the subject of that art is religious.

I know there are other examples, such as an oval shaped coin series of stained glass window coins. 

One problem I came across in looking up details for this article is a beautiful six-coin series.  The coins are plated in gold, and are arguably the most beautiful.  However, these coins claim to include relics.  The class of relic is not specified.  I am aware there are different classes of relics, and these are probably something like a piece of cloth that was touched to a physical relic, but I find buying and selling relics problematic.  I will not divulge the country, nor the series, since this is too close, and possibly over the line, with simony.  So, I will not promote these coins here.

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