Again the timing of the launching of this blog and national news stories are in harmony.  Recent reports on both the Discovery Channel and the Today Show speak about a new analysis being made of the Shroud of Turin. One issue that is surfacing is the issue of verifying the carbon dating results, but the other issue is one that is key for this blog on Biblical Coins. There is a new digital scan of the Shroud being made and this may help with the “coin over the eyes” issue.

In a previous post I spoke about the right eye and the type coin that some see there but I have not talked yet about the left eye which is more problematic.   Again there is the possibility that this object is a coin of Pontius Pilate but one of a different design.  The object on the coin would be a “three barley ears” and again the lettering on the coin could match.  The coin being suggested follows:

 

• Procurator: Pontius Pilate
• Date: 29/30AD
• Denomination: Prutah
• Obverse: Simpulum
• Reverse: 3 grain ears bound together
• Reference: Hendin 648

You should know that the findings for the left eye are even more hotly contested than the one concerning the right eye.  It seems the image is a little clearer on the right eye and the left eye coin seems to have dropped out of position making the image less obvious.  So unclear that some do not see the “three barley ears” described above but rather find the image to be of the “Lituus,” as on the right eye, and therefore think that we are dealing with the same coin in both eyes. I hope the new digital analysis will surface more information that will help us understand if there really is a coin there and if so what type is it.