The name Jesus was misspelled as ‘Lesus’, prompting the Vatican to recall the papal medals
The four flawed medals commemorating the first year of Pope Francis’ pontificate were purchased by Nick and Sandra Burby from the Vatican bookstore on October 8, 2013.
THE GOAN | PANAJI
We may never have personally met the late Pope Francis and yet, my sister, her husband and I will have a close connect with the pope for a very unusual reason.
My sister, Sandra Burby, her husband Nicholas (Nick) of Portsmouth-England, and I currently possess rare medals of the pope, so rare that people in the know believe it to be the first of its kind in 600 years and one that compelled the Vatican to immediately recall the entire batch of medallions.
A major blunder in the first commemorative medal of the pope has inadvertently become the prized collection for the three of us.
It was the first year of Pope Francis' pontificate and the Vatican decided to sell limited edition official medals of Pope Francis. As a journalist closely following Church activities, I had read that these medals were to go on sale on October 8, 2013.
The day was special. It was the silver wedding anniversary of Nick and Sandra and moreover, they were in Rome to celebrate their milestone.
THE MEDALS
Limited coins were minted – 200 (gold), 3,000 (silver) and 3,000 (bronze) – and while one side depicted the work of the artist Mariangela Crisciotti, the other side depicted Pope Francis.
Around the image was the phrase “Franciscus Pont. Max. An. I”. The rim of the reverse side bore the phrase which affected the young Jorge Mario Bergoglio when he received his call from God: “Vidit Ergo Jesus Publicanum Et Quia Miserando Antque Eligendo Vidit, Ait Illi Sequere Me”. Around the edge was the phrase “E Civitate Vaticana”.
Each medal, numbered and accompanied by a guarantee certificate stamped by the Secretariat of State and the Italian State Mint, was available for sale at few locations.
THE PURCHASE
I requested Nick and Sandra to purchase one medal to mark their silver wedding anniversary, and a bronze medal on my behalf.
On October 8, 2013, Nick and Sandra attended Mass in the Vatican and visited the tomb of St John Paul II, before proceeding to purchase four medallions: 1 silver and 2 bronze for them, and 1 bronze for me.
They visited a souvenir shop at the Vatican, but no one was aware about the medallion. The shop attendant suggested they check at the Vatican post office.
The three flawed medals currently in possession of Nick and Sandra Burby.
Nick and Sandra went to the Vatican post office, where staff also had no information about the medallions and advised them to contact the nearby Vatican bookstore. They were relieved to know that the medallions were available at the bookstore and purchased the four medallions, before leaving the store.
THE ERROR
By October 11, the media across the world reported about a blunder in the first commemorative medal of the pope. The name Jesus was misspelled as ‘Lesus’, prompting the Vatican to recall the papal medals.
This error was so rare that the owner of a numismatic and philatelic shop near St Peter’s Square in Rome, had told the media that he did not think such a mistake had been made in the 600-year-long history of papal medals.
The Vatican had admitted the error and media was informed that four such medals had been purchased before the Vatican began removing the flawed coins from the stores. These four had been purchased by Nick and Sandra from the Vatican bookstore.
Nick and Sandra were still in Rome at the time and confirmed that all four of their coins had ‘Lesus’ instead of ‘Jesus’. About a month later, Nick and Sandra sent my bronze coin through a friend travelling to Goa.
THE VALUE
Experts predicted that the few coins sold would be valuable collector's items, due to their scarcity and the strangeness of the spelling error.
A few more coins may have either been sold or remained at stores, before the Vatican finally withdrew the collection of coins. The value of these coins has certainly risen: A store selling religious items in Italy is currently selling two such coins on eBay for US $4,000.
While the world mourns the passing of Pope Francis, the first commemorative flawed medals of his pontificate will certainly become more valued with the passing of time.
