2016-07-06 Wed

Apart from British coins, many other countries have depicted the St. George Slaying the Dragon on them. One of them is the 18th century coin, graded Extremely Fine to Very Fine, from the modern-day Kremnitz, Slovakia, which was offered at Emporium Hamburg Auction that was held from 23rd and 24th April. The coin was sold for €90.

The legend says that St. George was travelling in Libya and reached a town where a plague-infested dragon resided. The locals fed the dragon sheep and then humans. But as per the results of a lottery, the king’s daughter was selected as the dragon’s next meal. St. George saw his daughter dressed as a bride being sent to the dragon. He attacked the dragon with his lance and asked the people residing there to convert to Christianity if they wanted him to kill the dragon. The entire scene is beautifully portrayed on the obverse of the silver coin.

The reverse depicts Jesus on a ship in the Sea of Galilee, with two apostles sailing in a storm. Jesus calms the storm and asks the men to have faith.

The reverse also bears a latin inscription which translates to “In times of storms, there is security”.