Father of Christmas Coin

Father of Christmas

Our buyers have hand picked the highest quality and best looking coins from A hoard of 15,000 coins. We have only selected 497 coins for this very special Christmas offer. These are the best coins and the best value we have ever been able to offer our clients on these popular Father of Christmas coins.

The story behind these 1,700 year old coins is fascinating The Roman emperor Lucius Domitius Aurelianus was born of humble origins on or 215 AD in what is now . With his great strength and skill as a soldier In the Roman army he rose through the ranks to become emperor Gallienus most accomplished general. Upon the death of Gallienus in 270 AD, Aurelian assumed power And ruled until his own death in 275 AD. He is perhaps most famous for being Known as the Father of Christmas

In ancient pagan times the winter solstice was traditionally a time of celebration and festivities. The early Norse celebrated the first day of winter as the night that the great Mother Goddess gives birth to the baby Sun God. It was called Yule, the day a huge log is added to a bonfire, around which everyone would sing and dance to awaken the sun from its long winter sleep.

In Roman times, solstice celebrations honored Saturnus (the harvest god) and Mithras (the ancient god of light) a form of sun worship that had come to from with the cult of Sol Invictus. Those festivals were seen as a time to remember that winter was not forever, that life continued, an was an invitation to stay in good spirits. In the year 274 AD, the solstice fell on the 25th of December, Roman emperor Aurelian officially proclaimed that date as Natalis Solis Invicti, the festival of the birth of the invincible sun.

Christians in third century were frequently persecuted, so being seen publicly celebrating a Christian festival was dangerous. Although the actual date of Christs birth is thought to have been in the spring, it nevertheless became a secret tradition for early Christians to celebrate His birth on December 25th, on the occasion of the new, official pagan holiday, to avoid detection by authorities. Aurelian has been known since as the Father of Christmas.

The celebration of the birth of the sun was to become the celebration of the birth of the Son. It was not until 325 AD when the Christian emperor Constantine the great officially created the holiday of Christmas to be celebrated openly on December 25th of each year.

These are genuine coins and comes with a certificate of authenticity and informative story card.  A selection of the hand picked coins from this 497 coin hoard