1974 US USA Franklin Mint HOLIDAY Madonna & Child OLD Proof Silver Medal i112706

  

Item: i112706 Authentic Medal of. Madonna raising child to shepard, Star of Bethlehem in background. The Star of Bethlehem, or Christmas Star, appears in the nativity story of the Gospel of Matthew chapter 2 where "wise men from the East" (Magi) are inspired by the star to travel to Jerusalem.

There, they meet King Herod of Judea, and ask him. Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?

For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him. Herod calls together his scribes and priests who, quoting a verse from the Book of Micah, interpret it as a prophecy that the Jewish Messiah would be born in Bethlehem to the south of Jerusalem.

Secretly intending to find and kill the Messiah in order to preserve his own kingship, Herod invites the wise men to return to him on their way home. The star leads them to Jesus' Bethlehem birthplace, where they worship him and give him gifts. The wise men are then given a divine warning not to return to Herod, so they return home by a different route. Many Christians believe the star was a miraculous sign. Some theologians claimed that the star fulfilled a prophecy, known as the Star Prophecy.

Astronomers have made several attempts to link the star to unusual celestial events, such as a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn or Jupiter and Venus, a comet, or a supernova. Some modern scholars do not consider the story to be describing a historical event but a pious fiction created by the author of the Gospel of Matthew. The subject is a favorite at planetarium shows during the Christmas season.

However, most ancient sources and Church tradition generally indicate that the wise men visited Bethlehem sometime after Jesus' birth. The visit is traditionally celebrated on Epiphany (January 6) in western Christianity. Matthew's account describes Jesus with the broader Greek word??????? , which can mean either "infant" or "child" rather than the more specific word for infant, ??????

This possibly implies that some time has passed since the birth. Is also used in Luke's Gospel specifically concerning Jesus' birth and his later presentation at the temple. Herod I has all male Hebrew babies in the area up to age two killed in the Massacre of the Innocents.

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States U. Or US or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles 9.8 million km. , the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles 10.1 million km. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.

Is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.

And the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. Territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones.

The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries. Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century. The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast.

Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, and the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776. The war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories, displacing Native American tribes, and gradually admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848. During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery. By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean, and its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar. The Spanish-American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a global military power. The United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The Rights Acts of 1964, 1965 and 1968 outlaws discrimination based on race or color. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 U. The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world's sole superpower. The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation. It is a federal republic and a representative democracy. The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States (OAS), and other international organizations. The United States is a highly developed country, with the world's largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for approximately a quarter of global GDP. Economy is largely post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world. The United States is the world's largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods, by value. Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total, the U. Holds 31% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country. Despite wide income and wealth disparities, the United States continues to rank very high in measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP, and worker productivity. The United States is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global military spending, and is a leading political, cultural, and scientific force internationally. World-renowned expert numismatist, enthusiast, author and dealer in authentic ancient Greek, ancient Roman, ancient Byzantine, world coins & more. Ilya Zlobin is an independent individual who has a passion for coin collecting, research and understanding the importance of the historical context and significance all coins and objects represent.

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