Vatican coin pulled from circulation; 'Jesus' was misspelled
October 11, 2013
The Vatican has abruptly stopped the circulation of new commemorative medals, after discovering that the name of Jesus was misspelled.
The medals, minted to commemorate the 1st year of the pontificate of Pope Francis, were minted with the name “Lesus” inscribed on the edge. The Latin inscription should have been “Iesus,” since the letter “J” is not used in Latin.
The medals, produced by the Italian state mint, went on sale on Tuesday, October 8, but were quickly pulled from circulation when the error was belatedly discovered.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
- Vatican pulls misspelled 'Jesus' medals (USA Today)
- Vatican strikes commemorative medal for pontificate of Pope Francis (CWN, 10/7)
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
-
Posted by: garedawg -
Oct. 12, 2013 11:54 PM ET USA
Those misprinted coins will be very valuable someday.
-
Posted by: KL Flannery -
Oct. 11, 2013 12:23 PM ET USA
The Latin word LAESUS is sometimes written LESUS. Since LAESUS means "the wounded one" the erroneous motto can be translated "The wounded one therefore saw a publican and ...".
