SOME coin collectors like to collectcoins according to a theme. For ex-

ample, they will collect coins with anelephant or some other animal on them.I like to collect coins with cathedrals onthem. It is not only because I am religiousbut because they test the die-engraver’sskill. He has to capture the imposingstructure of the building with all itsintricate details and put it on a smallmetal disc. I compare a photo of thecathedral with the image on the coin andassess how successful the die-engraverhas been, especially whether the imageconveys the spiritual nature of the build-ing. The people who built a cathedralintended it to be a suitable place for theworship of God, and its building was anact of worship. Of course they understoodthat God could be worshiped anywhere,but they wanted to create a place wherethe faithful could congregate and beespecially aware of God’s presence withthem. Although cathedrals sometimes ap-

pear on coins (Figures 1 and 2) theyare mostly on medals or medallions.These are generally produced to com-memorate the building of the cathedraland to raise money. They can be of his-torical importance particularly if thebuilding no longer exists or has beensignificantly changed since it was firstbuilt. In some cases the cathedral wasnever built at all.

Figure 1 – Reverse of a copper-nickel 5-mark coin of West Germany showing the façade ofCologne Cathedral. 29 mms diameter. It was issued in 1980 for the centenary of the cathedral’scompletion. There is an eagle on the obverse.

Window of Orvieto Cathedral. (Wikimedia Commons. Photo by Marcok.)

A good example of a medal showing acathedral that was never built is inFigure 3. The Holy Name Cathedral inBrisbane was intended to be the largestchurch building in the Southern Hemi-sphere with seating for four thousand.It was the dream of James Duhig, theCatholic Archbishop of Brisbane, andbuilding began in 1927 on a site inFortitude Valley. The cathedral was des-igned by the Sydney firm of Hennessey,Hennessey & Co., and a picture of theoriginal design still exists. (Figure 4)Services were held in a crypt chapel builton the site in 1934. Unfortunately becauseof the Great Depression fund-raising wasslow and when Archbishop Duhig diedin 1965 the project lapsed. In 1985 thesite was sold to property developers andthe stone remaining on the site was soldto the Anglican Church to continue buil-ding St John’s Cathedral, which was notcompleted until 2008. St John’s is thelast Gothic-style, stone cathedral to bebuilt in the world, and it is unlikely thatanother will be built anywhere else be-cause they require a concerted effort andan enormous amount of money. Most ofthe great Gothic cathedrals of the worldwere built in Europe in the late MiddleAges, and even then they required anextreme effort by the whole community.In Brisbane the Catholic cathedral is StStephen’s Cathedral, while in Sydneythe Catholic cathedral is the imposingSt Mary’s Cathedral. (Figure 5) It iswonderfully shown on a medal issuedfor the 29th Eucharistic Congress held inSydney in 1928. (Figure 6)

Figure 3 – Reverse of a silvered medal showing the Cathedral of the Holy Name. 31 mms diam-eter. There is a bust of Pope Pius XI (1922-39) on the obverse.

Figure 2 – Façade of Cologne Cathedral. (Wiki-media Commons. Photo by Christoph Rüpert.) Figure 4 – Design for the Cathedral of the Holy Name. (Wikimedia Commons)

An example of a cathedral that nolonger exists is in Figure 7. It was theChurch of St Isaac in St Petersburg, andthe medal was issued to commemoratethe commencement of building in 1768.St Isaac of Dalmatia was the patron saintof the Romanov family and Catherinethe Great wanted the church to be a hugemarble structure, but after she died in1796 it was hastily completed in 1802.It was different from the original designand was neither beautiful nor well-built.When rotting plaster fell from the ceilingduring the Easter service in 1816 TsarAlexander I decided to rebuild the churchon a grand scale to a different design.Its exterior was completed in 1842.(Figure 8) The size of cathedral medals varies

greatly. One showing the Church of theHoly Cross at Coimbra in Portugal has adiameter of 88 mms and is in high relief.

(Figure 9) A medal showing CologneCathedral on one side and the threekings bearing gifts for the baby Jesuson the other side has a diameter of only16 mms. (Figure 10) The three kings ormagi appear on this medal because insidethe cathedral there is a golden casketcontaining their bones, or so it wasbelieved in the 12th century when thecasket was brought from the east. Amedal showing the Basilica of Saint Annede Beaupré in Canada is only 13 mmsin diameter. (Figure 11) Obviously it isa challenge for a die engraver to put theimage of a great cathedral on such a tinymedal. An impressive medal showing the

Cathedral of St John the Divine in New

York was issued in 1992 to commemoratethe centenary of the commencement ofits building. (Figures 12 and 13) It isthe cathedral of the Episcopal Church,which is the equivalent of the AnglicanChurch of Australia, and it is one of thelargest cathedrals in the world. The die-engraver has reproduced all the intricatedetails of the stonework in the façade. Medals or tokens to be bought by pil-

grims when they reach their destinationhave been popular since the Middle Ages.An amazing little medal was made forpilgrims to Rome during the pontificateof Pope John-Paul II. On the obverse heholds up a crucifix. On the reverse thereare images of the four major basilicas inRome with a Latin inscription meaning“travelling to Rome”. (Figure 14) At thetop is the dome of St Peter’s Basilica. This

Figure 7 – Reverse of a bronze medal showingthe Church of St Isaac. 64 mms diameter. Thereis a bust of Catherine II (1762-96) on the obverse.

Figure 8 – Cathedral of St Isaac in St Peters-burg. Can you see any resemblance to the1768 design? (Wikimedia Commons. Photo byFlorstein.)

Figure 9 – Large bronze medal showing theChurch of the Holy Cross at Coimbra in Portugal.

Figure 10 – Small bronze medal showingCologne Cathedral on one side and the threemagi on the other. Above the magi is the Starof Bethlehem.

Figure 11 – Reverse of a tiny medal showingthe Basilica of St Anne de Beaupré in Canada.On the obverse Mary holds the Christ child.

Figure 5 – St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney.(Wikimedia Commons)

Figure 6 – St Mary’s Cathedral appears on thereverse of a silver medal issued for the 29thInternational Eucharistic Congress in Sydneyin 1928. 40 mms diameter. There is a bust ofPope Pius XI on the obverse.

dome had been designed by Michelangeloin the sixteenth century. On the left is theArch-basilica of St John Lateran, whichis the cathedral church of the bishop ofRome. It was built on the site of the palaceof the Lateran family, hence its name.In the first century when Nero was theRoman emperor, Plautius Lateranus

conspired against him. Nero had himexecuted and seized the palace, but even-tually it passed to Constantine the Greatwho gave it to the Church. On the rightis the Basilica of St Mary Major. It wasoriginally built by Pope Sixtus III (432-440) to celebrate the decree of the Councilof Ephesus in 431 that Mary, the motherof Jesus, should have the title, “Theo-tokos”, which means “Bearer of God.” Atthe bottom is the Basilica of St PaulOutside the Walls. It was built by Con-stantine the Great outside the walls ofRome at the site where according totradition St Paul had been buried. In arecent television series in which DavidSuchet (a.k.a. Inspector Poirot) retracedthe steps of St Paul he was allowed to gobelow the altar to see the sarcophagusbelieved to contain the saint’s bones. St Paul’s Cathedral in London appears

on a medal to commemorate the wed-ding of Prince Charles and Lady DianaSpencer in 1981. (Figures 15 and 16)Previous royal weddings had occurred in

Westminster Abbey and it was a break intradition to have it in St Paul’s. Althoughthe die-engraver has captured the impos-ing façade of this great cathedral thewedding couple do not look happy. Themedal was an omen of the marriage prob-lems ahead and the sad demise of theprincess. Milan Cathedral appears on a large

bronze medal made in 1818. (Figure 17)The Cathedral is dedicated to St Maryof the Nativity. It is the second largestchurch in Italy after St Peter’s Basilicain Rome and it took nearly six hundredyears to complete. The die-engraver hasshown the cathedral in perspective, andtoday a person can stand in the squareand see the cathedral in the same per-spective. (Figure 18) It is indeed an awe-inspiring building. Cathedrals and churches sometimes

appear on Communion tokens. They wereused mostly in Scotland in the 18th and19th centuries and were given to mem-bers of the church community whom theFigure 12 – White-metal medallion showing

the façade of the Cathedral of St John the Divinein New York. 38 mms diam.

Figure 13 – Façade of the Cathedral of St Johnthe Divine in New York. (Wikimedia Commons)

Figure 14 – Reverse of a bronze medal show-ing churches in Rome. 27 mms diameter.

Figure 15 – Silver medal showing Charles and Diana on the obverse and St Paul’s Cathedral on thereverse. 38 mms diameter. Diana is reported as saying that her wedding was the worst day of her life.

Figure 16 – West façade of St Paul’s Cathedral. (Wikimedia Commons. Photo by Zeistere.)

minister examined and considered wor-thy of joining in the Lord’s Supper. It isironic that a verse from the New Testa-ment that commonly appears on thesetokens is Let a man examine himselfand so let him eat. This verse appearson the reverse of a token that has a pic-ture of Dundee Parish Church (St Mary’s)on the obverse. (Figures 19 and 20) Thechurch has an interesting history thatgoes back to the 12th century when theEarl of Huntingdon was returning fromthe Third Crusade. A terrible stormengulfed his ship and he prayed fordeliverance. He vowed to build a churchin gratitude for his safe home-coming andin honour of the Virgin Mary. He landedon the north bank of the Firth of Tay inScotland and named the place DonumDei, which is Latin for “Gift of God”. Thename eventually became “Dundee”. In1303 the English king Edward I attackedthe city and burnt the church, but overthe centuries it was rebuilt several times.

The tower (St Mary’s Tower) is the old-est surviving building in Dundee. Un-fortunately because they are all over ahundred years old and made of cheapmetal, Communion tokens are usuallycorroded to some extent, which makes thedetails of the buildings unclear. But theimages are valuable because they showwhat the churches were like in those cen-turies and many of them no longer exist. As well as cathedrals on coins there are

coins in cathedrals. In St John’s Cathe-dral in Brisbane (Figures 21 and 22)

there is a permanent display of coins re-lating to the history of Christianity.Cathedrals have long had an educationalfunction: visitors could ‘read’ the Biblein the stained glass windows and in thestone reliefs. In keeping with this tradit-ion the coins on display in St John’sCathedral cover the whole history ofChristianity. The cathedral is open everyday and visitors are welcome. They cancontemplate coins that might have beenheld by Christians at various times overthe last two thousand years. A bookletlisting and explaining the coins can bepurchased from the Cathedral Bookshop.

Note: The coins and medals shown in thisarticle are from the author’s collection.

Figure 17 – Reverse of a bronze medal show-ing Milan Cathedral. 44 mms diameter. A bustof the archbishop of Milan is on the obverse.

Figure 18 – Milan Cathedral. (Wikimedia Commons. Photo by Mujaddara.)

Figure 19 – Base-metal Communion tokenshowing Dundee Parish Church. On the otherside there is a verse from the New Testament(1 Corinthians 11:28). The token was made inabout 1840. 25 x 30 mms.

Figure 20 – Dundee Parish Church. (WikimediaCommons. Photo by Bill Nicholls.)

Figure 21 – St John’s Cathedral, 373 Ann Street, Brisbane.

Figure 22 – Interior of St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane.

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