An archaeologist claims he found some gold coins dated 64 B.C.

Do you believe him?

"An archaeologist claims he found some gold coins dated 64 B.C. Before Christ was born, nobody knew when exactly He would be born, so there was no way specify what year it was B.C."

Not so fast. The archaeologist was telling the truth !! It was quite common in the earliest Chrstian kingdoms such as Armenia (converted to the Faith by St. Bartholomew before 200 A.D.) to rededicate monuments, statues, coins, etc., in honor of their new religion. This is typically seen in the conversion of various pagan festivals to Christian use (e.g. Christmas and Easter), and to the adoption and adaptation of heathen symbols as well (e.g. the Christmas tree). So that if it were known by the ruler of second century A.D. Armenia that certain coins had been minted, say, 64 years before they believed that Christ had been born, these early believers could have rededicated the pagan coins by removing from them the images of the old gods, effacing the old date (which may have read "in the 30th year of the reign of King So-And-So"), and stamping on them the post-dated "64 B.C." and perhaps a venerating picture of the Madonna and Child.
Edited on November 11, 2003, 2:13 am

Posted by Dan on 2003-11-11 02:06:56