HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN 1,000 MINTED COINS MADE
REIGN OF KING HUSSEIN BIN TALAL (1952-1999)
COMMEMORATING THE PAPAL VISIT OF POPE PAUL VI TO JORDAN
HIGHLIGHTING THE DOME OF THE ROCK
LARGE GOLD TWENTY-FIVE DINAR COIN CERTIFIED BY NGC PROOF 69 ULTRA CAMEO
OBV: PORTRAIT BUST OF KING HUSSEIN RIGHT; SMALL CROWN AND MANTLED ARMS TOP; ARABIC SCRIPT SURROUNDING LEGEND; AL HIJRI DATE BOTTOM.
REV: WITHIN A CIRCLE THE COLLONADE AND EDIFICE OF THE DOME OF THE ROCK; STYLIZED LOZENGE AND PELLET BACKGROUND; BOXED ENGLISH DENOMINATION AND GREGORIAN DATE AT BOTTOM.
KM # 27
THE DOME OF THE ROCK, OR THE MASJID QUBBAT AS-SAKRAH, WAS BUILT FROM 685-681 AD ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT IN JERUSALEM. IT IS CALLED "THE MOST CONTESTED PIECE OF REAL ESTATE ON EARTH" DUE TO ITS IMPORTANCE TO THE MUSLIM, CHRISTIAN AND JEWISH FAITHS THAT HOLD THE SITE SACRED. IT WAS BUILT BY ORDER OF THE UMAYYAD CALIPH ABD AL-MALIK AND WAS PATTERNED AFTER THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHER, BECOMING THE FIRST GREAT WORK OF MUSLIM ARCHITECTURE. IT IS BUILT ON TOP OF WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE FOUNDATION STONE, AN ANCIENT STONE THOUGHT TO BE PART OF THE ORIGINAL TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. THE CAVERN UNDER THE STONE IS CALLED THE WELL OF SOULS, CONSIDERED TO BE THE HOLIEST SITE IN THE JEWISH FAITH AND TRADITION HOLDS THAT THE WELL OF SOULS IS NOT ONLY THE SITE OF THE ORIGINAL HOLY OF HOLIES OF THE TEMPLE BUT ALSO THE SPIRTITUAL JUNCTION OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. DURING THE MIDDLE AGES THE CRUSADERS TURNED THE DOME OF THE ROCK INTO A CHURCH. SINCE THE FALL OF JERUSALEM IN 1187, THE SITE AND THE NEARBY AL-AQSA MOSQUE HAVE BEEN MUSLIM SHRINES OF WORSHIP. IT IS BELIEVED BY MANY MUSLIMS THAT MUHAMMED ASCENDED TO HEAVEN FROM THE DOME OF THE ROCK. TODAY THE DOME IS MAINTAINED BY THE MINISTRY OF AWQAF IN AMMAN, JORDAN.
POPE PAUL VI (REIGNED 1963-1978), WAS KNOWN AS "THE PILGRIM POPE" FOR HIS EXTENSIVE TRAVELS. HE VISITED JORDAN AND JERUSALEM IN 1964.
CONTAINS 69.11 GRAMS OF .900 FINE GOLD (1.9997 OZS AGW)
48 MM IN DIAMETER
ONLY 1,000 MINTED!
