Book of Shrines Fourth Gold Investment Coin Israel 1 Oz 2013

"Jerusalem of Gold" series - Shrine of the Book

Issued by the Bank of Israel in a mintage of only 3,600 pieces for the whole world, the Holy Book gold coin is the fourth investment coin in the world's very popular "Jerusalem of Gold" series. The gold coins in this series are issued as investment coins weighing 1 troy ounce (31.1g) with a face value of 20 new shekels and a purity of 999.9/1000 pure gold.

The main motif on the reverse side is the wing of the Israel Museum in West Jerusalem - the Shrine of the Book. At the top is an excerpt from the great scroll of Isaiah, one of the original seven Dead Sea Scrolls discovered at Qumran. Above the excerpt is the inscription "Jerusalem" in English, Hebrew and Arabic, and further to the right of the shrine is the denomination, year of issue and the mint mark - the Star of David. The weight and purity are placed at the bottom of the coin. The author of the reverse side of the coin is Aharon Shevo.

The inspiration for the motif "The famous Lion of Megiddo" on the obverse was an ancient seal from the 8th century BC found in Megiddo (Armageddon) in the Jordan Valley. The seal belonged to Shem, a servant of King Jeroboam II, who was king of Israel during the time of the prophet Amos. The lion is also a symbol of the tribes of Judah and Jerusalem. The same lion of Megiddo was depicted on the Israeli five lira note in 1958, the five lira coin in 1978 and the half shekel coin in 1980. Above the lion is the Israeli national emblem and below the lion is the inscription "ISRAEL" in English, Hebrew and Arabic. The obverse of all the coins in this series is by Meir Eshel.

Each gold investment coin comes in a deluxe gift box along with a certificate of authenticity.

Sanctuary Books

The Shrine of the Book is a wing of the Israel Museum near Givat Ram in West Jerusalem. It houses the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were discovered in eleven caves in Qumran in 1947-56. The Shrine of the Book was originally to be built on the campus of the Hebrew University in Givat Ram near the National Library.

The planning process for construction took seven years and the actual construction began in 1965. The entire project was funded by the family of Hungarian émigré and philanthropist David Samuel Gottesman, who also purchased the Dead Sea Scrolls as a gift to the State of Israel. One of the architects - Armand Phillip Bartos (1910-2005) - was apparently chosen because he was married to Gottesman's daughter Ruth Celeste Gottesman at the time. The other architect - Frederick John Kiesler (1890-1965) - had previously been funded by Gottesman to research whether Kiesler's "Infinite House" could be installed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Gezer Heller, who had already been involved in the construction of many important buildings in the new State of Israel, was also a member of the architectural team.

The Israeli architects strongly protested the fact that non-Israeli architects were chosen because of their family relations. They also objected to the choice of F. J. Kiesler, especially because he had not completed his architectural studies in Vienna and Berlin (although he was licensed as an architect in New York) and had never built anything. He was primarily an avant-garde set designer who occasionally taught. The American-Jewish architect Kiesler, however, had already been selected by Gottesman in 1955.

The sanctuary is built as a white dome that covers the building itself, which is two-thirds underground. Opposite the white dome is a black basalt wall. The colours and shapes of the building are based on an image from a scroll describing a battle between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness, with the white dome symbolising the Sons of Light and the black wall the Sons of Darkness.

As the fragility of the scrolls does not allow them to be on permanent display, the principle of rotation is used, whereby the scroll is removed from display after 3 to 6 months of exposure and placed in a depository.

The museum also houses other rare ancient manuscripts, including the Aleppo Codex. The dome of the museum has been used several times as a set for science fiction films due to its peculiar shape.

This product is part of the following product sets: