A very neat bit of history on which Christians and history nerds can find happy common ground:
A "very rare" gold coin depicting the image of Jesus Christ that may have come from the Byzantine Empire roughly 1,000 years ago was recently discovered in Norway.
A metal detectorist found the artifact in the mountains of Vestre Slidre, over 1,600 miles from Istanbul, Turkey, formerly known as Constantinople, which served as the capital of the Byzantine Empire.
Money and Jesus have always traveled far! Here's the handsome little coin in question:
The coin "is known as the Byzantine histamenon nomisma." One side depicts Christ holding the Bible; the other apparently shows Basil II and Constantine VIII, "who were brothers and co-emperors of the Byzantine Empire from 962 to 1025."
"The coin is unique in the Norwegian context," the Innlandet County Municipality stressed in its statement[.]... "It has held up exceptionally well. The coin appears largely unchanged from when it was lost, perhaps a thousand years ago."
You love to picture that one guy, in 1023 A.D., suddenly realizing that his nomisma is no longer in his pocket and he can't afford that pint of mead down at the local tavern.
The coin "was minted sometime between 977 and 1025 AD," historians say.
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