The survey on Robert Gladstone’s collection continues and still manages to surprise us! Whilst looking through yet another card index box I found an unassuming envelope with a ‘Christ Medal’ contained within.
A Christ medal was worn to show a sign of faith and ours shows Jesus on one side and Hebrew text on the other which I am led to believe is translated as ‘Christ the King has come in peace: God was made man’.
The original was made in the first century and worn to identify believers and signify their faith. However, it seems that in the late 19th and early 20th century a stove manufacturer made copies of the original and sold them in markets to the masses. So do we have a real one or a stove manufacturers copy? Why not come in to the Library and make your own mind up.