HALL GERMANY SILVER HELLER_______13th - 14th Century_______"RIGHT HAND OF GOD"

Description

21X02
FRASCATIUS ANCIENTS
A BEAUTIFUL SILVER HELLER FROM HALL GERMANY FROM THE 13TH - 14TH CENTURY AD .
The imagery of the coin was the first of its kind, depicting an act of God, rather than the figure of God. The coin captures the Right Hand of God held up in blessing. It is believed that people in possession of the coin were granted good luck and divine blessing from God.
Minted and circulated in the Holy Roman Empire and Europe for two centuries
Nearly pure silver coin that was hand-struck
The Royal mint of Schwäbisch Hall was opened by Emperor Friedrich I. Barbarossa (1122-1190). The name Heller comes from the word Häller, in other words meaning a coin minted in Schwäbisch Hall and was first mentioned in 1189.
THE SIZE IS 16.5 MM AND 0.55 GRAMS.
Saur# 1364
OBVERSE – Right hand of God, palm forward
REVERSE – Splayed cross with pellet at each end
HAND OF GOD
The image of the hand of God is so often found in religious art. Originally a Jewish innovation, the convention of using the hand of God—Manus Dei in Latin—as a symbol for God Himself was embraced by Christian artists.
In late antiquity, the representation of the full-bodied figure of God would have been considered sinful, a grave violation of the Second Commandment. Indeed, the iconoclast campaigns of eighth century Byzantium were inspired by fanatical devotion to this prohibition on graven images. The Hand of God was a compromise—a way to show God without actually depicting Him. This coin is the first to feature the Hand without also depicting the beneficiary of the blessing.
The use of the Hand by Itself sends an evocative message, suggesting that the bearer of the coin is also a recipient of God’s divine influence. The so-called “Hand Heller” is considered not just a lucky coin, but a blessed one.
The denomination of this silver coin is the heller, a name deriving from the original name haller, a reference to the Medieval Swabian city of Hall, where this coin type was first struck.
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NOTE: Frascatius is a life member (LM #6864) of the American Numismatic Association (ANA). Frascatius fully complies with the ANA Member Code of Ethics.
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