Perhaps one of the most interesting topics debated in Judaic numismatics is the uncertainty surrounding the origin of the 1927 Holyland Token, sometimes referred to as the "Souvenir Mil." The true story about why this particular item was made has never been known with a high degree of certainty. Many of the dealers and collectors with whom I have had discussions about this specimen have no consensus of opinion whether or not to correctly classify it a coin, pattern, or a token.
One version is recounted by Arlie R. Slabaugh. To quote in part:
| "This is the story as I heard it, but cannot vouch for it. Certainly it sounds logical enough, but then token histories aren't always logical. Tourists and pilgrims come the year around to visit the holy places of Jerusalem. Then as now, tourists liked to take home a souvenir of their trip, particu larly from a place as hallowed as Jerusalem. Obviously, sacred relics could not be removed - many chose instead as a momento of their pilgrimage one of the new one mil coins of Palestine. The coins began to disappear. To supply a demand for souvenirs the token was made to sell to tourists." |
Sylvia Haffner recounts a different a story told to her in 1968 while in Haifa:
| "The committee established by the British in June of 1926 had various designs submitted to them for the proposed new coinage. The final accepted design came from the original drawings of A. St. B. Harrison, architect of the Palestine Works Department. The Holyland token is a rejected design submitted to the committee. The designer of the proposed design had them struck by a private firm and presented them to the committee for consideration. Part of his design was incorporated into the design that was accepted by the committee." |
COIN OR TOKEN?
The argument as to whether or not it is a coin or token can be probably defended adequately on both sides. If it is a coin or rejected die pattern, why are there apparently so many, as it is thought that over 500 were made. On the other hand, assuming that the item was privately made for sale to the tourists visiting Palestine, why then are there not more known?
The obverse of the Holyland Token, in part, resembles closely the reverse design of the standard 1-mil coin issued by the Palestine Currency Board starting in 1927. However the token's size (28.5 mm) with plain edge is slightly larger than the standard 2-mil coin (28 mm). Although coins are traditionally struck with the obverse and reverse dies aligned at a rotation of 180 degrees, known as the "coin rotation," both the Holyland Token and the regular issued coins of the Palestine Mandate were struck in the "medal rotation," so that the obverse and reverse dies were aligned in a rotation of zero degrees.
Comparison of the obverse of the Holyland Token with the
reverse of a 1-mil coin
) and English respectively. Atop the olive leaves
from right to left are the ledgends "ONE MIL" in English and "MIL" in
Arabic and Hebrew, separated by periods:
Surrounding the inner circle design is the phrase, "HISTORICAL HOLYLAND COIN" with the date 1927 within parenthesis. Circumferential beading surrounds the entire design.
The reverse of the Holyland Token resembles the obverse design of the standard 1-mil coin. Within an inner circle from top to bottom are the trilingual inscriptions for "Palestine" in Arabic, English, and Hebrew respectively:
Comparison of the reverse of the Holyland Token with the
obverse of a 1-mil coin
However, like all regular issued coins and banknotes of the Palestine Mandate from 1927 to 1947, two Hebrew letters aleph (
) and yod (
) were placed within parenthesis and followed the
Hebrew inscription for Palestine, which is the abbreviation for Eretz Yisra'el (
), or "Land of Israel." Although it was
the British mandatory government's intent to remain neutral in the design patterns on the
coins and banknotes, Arabs naturally were angered by the use of this phrase linking Israel
with the Jews, but orthodox Jews were also unhappy because, according to the Bible, only
the Messiah from the House of David could reestablish what could then be called
"Israel." Below the trilingual inscription for Palestine are the equivalent
English and Arabic numerals for the year 1927 (
).It is interesting to note that the Arabic
date for "1927" within the reverse inner circle is possibly misspelled, reading
"1967". It is realistic to conclude that this item was not made by Arabs for
they would have never included the "Land of Israel" phrase in the design, nor
would they have made the possible mistake of writing the date in Arabic as 1967 instead of
1927. The Arabic number for the number 2 (
) was either unknowingly or carelessly made to
look like the Arabic number 6 (
).
Surrounding the inner circle design is the Arabic legend:
meaning, "Historical Holyland Coin." In parentheses is another Arabic legend, 1927 senah dorebek:
meaning, "was minted (or struck) in the year 1927." Circumferential beading surrounds the entire design.
The Holyland token has three known varieties. The differences between Type I and Type II were initially noted in 1976 by Owen W. Wagner as follows:
) in mil (
) 
