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The Historic Holyland Coin - Coin or Token?

Perhaps one of the most interesting topics debated in Judaic numismatics is the uncertainty surrounding the origin of the origin of the 1927 Historic Holyland Coin, sometimes referred to as the "Souvenir Mil." The true story about why this particular item was made has never been known with a high degree of certainty. There are a few stories as to where they came from. Some say it was a design submitted when they wanted to make a new coin. Others will say it was to sell to people visiting the country.

The argument as to whether or not it is a coin or token can be probably defended adequately on both sides. If it is a coin or rejected die pattern, why are there apparently so many, as it is thought that over 500 were made. On the other hand, assuming that the item was privately made for sale to the tourists visiting Palestine, why then are there not more known?

What does all this mean to someone in Tucson Arizona? Not much, unless you are a collector of these type of things. Or that on March 6th you happen to be the person that dug one out of the ground. I had stopped at a boarded up house just to look around about two weeks before. Not seeing any sign of someone having detected lately, I decided that I needed to come back with my White's XLT metal detector. As all of us know, sometimes a couple of days can turn into weeks. On this day, I was not headed to the old house but was going to one of the parks. When it came time to turn left, I remembered the house and turned right instead. I headed for the clothesline got a signal and uncovered a Token for a one quart milk from the Flint Ideal Dairy and about five feet further I found the 1927 Holyland Coin.

I have never heard of or seen this type of coin before. I posted it on one of the forums and got a couple of answers in a very short time. One of the answers was a web site that most of the information from above came from. Another was the possibility that I had a good find or at least better than average find. He said one of his books has it listed in the best shape at $400.00! Well, we all know what happens to a coin in the ground for a long period of time. Although the coin is in decent shape, it is very dark in color. It also has a few nicks around the edges. Thanks to the Internet, a couple of people have looked at the pictures that I put on my web site. They have said the coin may be worth $100.00 or more.

By Dennis K.

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