100 Greatest Women On Coins Series: Mary, Mother of Jesus

It is not often that we get to bring different figures forward in such a way in numismatics as we have with this 100 Greatest Women On Coins blog series courtesy of Whitman Publishing. While we often skip around to different rankings from the comprehensive list, we have never had the intention to wait until the very last one to reveal the top pick. With that in mind, we are now going to unveil this top #1 choice in the series as put together by author Ron Guth.

This tip top ranking was one of the few women throughout the series that fit into more than one category as used for Guth’s official numbering system to complete the list. Hundreds of women were looked as more than 600 were have found to have appeared on coins throughout history. These women were categorized and analyzed into four categories that would determine their rankings. Those categories are as follows: real (or actual) women, goddesses, allegorical women who represent an idea, concept, or nationality, and women in art. The woman who rose to the top fit into more than one of these categories.

#1 - Mary, Mother of Jesus

While Mary is portrayed differently in a number of religions and faiths, her story is told in the Christan Bible as the mother of Jesus the Messiah. The story told in the books of Matthew and Luke is that Mary and her cousin Elizabeth experience miraculous conceptions in completely different ways. Elizabeth, who was older and unable to conceive children, was impregnated and gave birth to John “The Baptist.” Six months later, Mary was visited by an angel to announce that she would too be impregnated.

However, the young virgin, who was already engaged to Joseph, would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit. While Joseph was upset in the beginning, he came to understand the incredible nature of the child she was carrying as an angel would convince him of the miracle. Mary would later give birth to Jesus while on a trip to Bethlehem. Later on, Mary would witness the first miracle of Jesus when he turned water into wine at a wedding party. She was also present at his crucifixion and death in addition to accompanying Jesus' apostles when they met with one another after his death.

Mary has been portrayed on coins and featured in portraits as a real woman although no actual portrait of her exists. Most of the time, she is seen with her newborn child. She also fits in the women in art category as there have been a number of depictions of her in religious paintings and sculptures. Some women view Mary as a goddess as Mariolatry, or the idolatrous worship of the Virgin Mary, is cited in tying her to this category. Finally, the allegorical aspect of her ranking is tied to the purity, chastity, motherhood and devotion that she represents.

Appearing on a number of coins throughout the history of numismatics, one of the most “interesting” occasions as deemed by author Guth is the Liberian 2007 $ coin that depicts the Black Madonna of Czestochowa. She is featured on the coin with the scars on her face that were a result of a robbery she experienced by Hussite robbers in 1430 AD. The 1936 Austrian 5-schilling coin also has a more conventional depiction of both Mary and Jesus. The author lastly notes the 2013 $2 coin from the island of Fiji that shows the “Theotokos of the Seven Arrows” icon in which Mary is pierced by the seven arrows that represent the sorrows of her life.

Author Ron Guth finds collecting coins with Mary as “easy” as there are hundreds of options out there depicting her portrait.