Curiosity
Jesus Misspelled: Vatican recalls 6000 medals over misspelling
The word “Jesus” is misspelt as “Lesus” in the upper right-hand section of the coin
The Vatican recalled thousands of medals on Friday due to the name “Jesus” being misspelled. The medals were created to commemorate Pope Francis being elected to the Church’s highest position, becoming God’s representative on Earth.
Apparently Vatican withdrawing #PopeFrancis medal cuz has "Lesus" instead of "Jesus." The 4 already sold will be collector's items.
— Catholic News Service (@CatholicNewsSvc) October 10, 2013
Minting medals for a new pope is a tradition, and they are considered to be collector’s items. In this case, the medals were printed with the word “Lesus” instead of Jesus. The BBC reported that sales started on Tuesday for the medals, which are created in bronze, silver and gold.
A coin dealer told The New York Times, the flawed coins could be highly sought after by collectors.
“Regardless of what the Vatican decides to do now, it’s an interesting purchase for a collector,” Francesco Santarossa, owner of a numismatic and philatelic shop near St. Peter’s Square in Rome, said in a phone interview. “I don’t think they ever made such a mistake in the 600-year-long history of papal medals.”
While the Vatican was quick to recall the 6,000 medals, four had already been sold. According to the Telegraph newspaper in the UK, those medals could become extremely valuable to collectors because of the mistake.
Britain’s Telegraph newspaper reports that four of the medals were bought before the Vatican recalled them.
“Everybody makes mistakes,” Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi told the Times on Friday. “Even people who make coins.”
Social media sites were quick to remark on the error, especially Twitter. Many users commented on the rise of the new savior “Lesus Christ” while others blamed “the Lesuits”.
An official medal celebrating the first year of Pope Francis’s reign has gone on sale with a spelling mistake in Jesus’s name
On The Web:
Vatican Misspells ‘jesus’
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/10/11/jesus-misspelled-vatican-medal/2965195/
Jesus misspelled, and other famous typos
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/12/world/europe/coins-celebrating-pope-misspell-name-above-all-names.html?_r=0