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Posted on 01/29/2005 5:10:32 AM PST by MississippiMasterpiece
Colorado Springs, CO (PRWEB) January 28, 2005 -- After decades of seeking possible answers about a mysterious UFO-like design on a 17th century French copper coin, a prominent numismatic expert says it remains just that: an unidentified flying object. After a half-century of research, the design has defied positive identification by the numismatic community.
"It was made in the 1680s in France and the design on one side certainly looks like it could be a flying saucer in the clouds over the countryside," said Kenneth E. Bressett of Colorado Springs, Colorado, a former President of the 32,000-member American Numismatic Association and owner of the curious coin.
"Is it supposed to be a UFO of some sort, or a symbolic representation of the Biblical Ezekiel's wheel? After 50 years of searching, I've heard of only one other example of it, and nothing to explain the unusual design."
Bressett said the mysterious piece is not really a coin, but a "jeton," a coin-like educational tool that was commonly used to help people count money, or sometimes used as a money substitute for playing games. It is about the size of a U.S. quarter-dollar and similar to thousands of other jetons with different religious and educational designs that were produced and used in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries.
"The design on this particular piece could be interpreted as showing either a UFO or Ezekiel's wheel, but little else. Some people think the Old Testament reference to Ezekiel's wheel may actually be a description of a long-ago UFO," he explained.
"The legend written in Latin around the rim is also mystifying. 'OPPORTUNUS ADEST' translates as 'It is here at an opportune time.' Is the object in the sky symbolic of needed rainfall, or a Biblical reference or visitors from beyond? We probably will never know for certain," said Bressett.
"It is part of the lure of numismatics that makes coin collecting so intriguing."
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Is it just my dirty mind, or does that UFO look 'well hung'?
Never mind the UFO; why does it have a penis?
I'm glad i'm no the only one who noticed. It really does look like a penis flying around on a wheel.
Not exactly what I'd consider "opportune!"
Yes, and it does seem to be showering the earth.
I was thinking the same thing.
Looks like a mushroom to me.
Does more look like a tractor beam to me.
Series now, that cant be a ufo because theres no flashing lights on it....
A Jewish UFO. Who'd a thunk.
It was made in the 1680s in FranceDespite what we think of the French (mostly justified), 1680s France was not a pre-literate society.
If this toy-coin (made for games) was really depicting a flying-saucer witnessed at the time, we would have to believe the following scenario:
A citizen of France witnesses a flying saucer and says to himself, "how can I best tell the world about this event... I know! I'll put it on a toy coin!"
Pardon my skepticism, but, yeah, right.
No wonder we can't communicate with the aliens. We've been looking for the Mothership...
"sometimes used as a money substitute for playing games"
That says a lot
Lol
Gallic, phallic...what's the difference?
Leni
The coin must have been designed by an ancestor of Larry Flynt.
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