The Maundy ceremony is based on Jesus Christs’ actions at the Last Supper, in which he washed the feet of the disciples (an ancient hospitality tradition) and instructed them to “love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34). This is the basis for all Maundy ceremonies, which take place on the the Thursday before Easter.

Maundy ceremonies were first celebrated by the British monarch in 1210 A.D., when King John handed out clothing, utensils and other items to poor families. The very early Maundy ceremonies included the washing of the feet, symbolic of Christ washing the feet of the disciples. During this ceremony high ranking clergymen or monarchs would wash the feet of lower ranking clergymen or the poor. The washing of the feet, though now rarely practiced, was once a major ceremony conducted by nearly every European monarch, some as late the 20th century.

Maundy sets are sets of four coins consisting of penny, twopence, threepence and fourpence (groat) pieces. The sets are traditionally given out by the reigning monarch of Great Britain to poor families each year. The number of sets handed out corresponds to the monarchs age. For instance, if Queen Elizabeth II were 70 on Maundy day, then 70 sets would be handed out to 70 families. The first traditional Maundy set was minted in 1660, during the reign of Charles II. Since then, it has been a yearly tradition among the reigning British monarchs. Starting in 1822 (during the reign of George IV), the four denominations were made special for use in Maundy sets. Prior to that date, the circulating coinage had been used.

Until 1920, the silver purity was .925 fine (sterling). After 1920, the purity was reduced to .500 fine, until 1947, when it was once again changed, this time back to .925 fine. It may seem odd that the silver purity was reduced and then increased, but there is a very good reason for such actions to be taken. In 1920, the silver content of all British coins was reduced .925, or 92.5% silver to .500, or 50% silver. When the circulating coins were changed, so too were Maundy coins. Beginning in 1947, silver was removed from British coins entirely to assist in paying off the massive war debt that England had racked up following World War II. As it was thought improper to strike Maundy coins in copper-nickel, the composition was reverted back to the original 92.5% silver.

No Maundy sets are cheap, but many are very affordable. Prior to 1909, they could simply be purchased from banks for a small fee. In 1909, King Edward VII ordered that Maundy sets only be issued to the poor families involved in the ceremonies, so sets are much less common after that date.
Click here to see more pictures of Maundy Coin Sets

Determining the date or denomination of an Arabic coins can be challenge if they are not written in both Eastern and Western Arabic (those used in western nations) numerals. Once you have become familiarized with the ten basic numerals, however, it becomes much more simple. Since Eastern Arabic numbers are used in the same way as Western numbers (both systems have the same roots), all you have to do to figure them out is compare each number in the date or denomination to this chart:

Here are some examples:

١٣١٩ – 1319

١٩٦٤ – 1964

٢٠٠٩ – 2009

Now that you can determine what the numbers on your Arabic coins mean, the next step is determining the date. Most countries with Islam as the main religion use the Muslim, or Hejira calendar. The Muslim calendar is based on the lunar year (which means it’s 11 days shorter than the Christian calendar). The Gregorian calendar (which is used in most western nations) is based on the year in which Christ was born, but the Hejira calendar begins in the year that Muhammad fled Mecca, which took place in the Christian year 622. If a date is ever followed by the letters ‘AH’, the date written is dated with Hejira dates. The letters ‘AD’ refer to the Christian date, of course. Because of the discrepancy in the calendars, dating Muslim coins can be very difficult for those in western nations. The entire process becomes a lot easier with one very simple equation.

To figure out how the date on your Islamic coin translates to Christian years, simply multiply the Islamic date by 0.97, then add 622. This gives you a rough equivalent.

Here is an example:

1421 (Muslim year) x 0.97 + 622 = 2000 (Christian year)

Japanese coins can be dated either in Japanese numerals or Arabic numerals. If they’re dated with Arabic numerals, the Christian date is generally used, so the date doesn’t need to be deciphered. In most cases, however, Japanese coins use the nengo dating system, which I will describe and explain in this short guide.

Nengo dating:

Nengo dating is the practice of displaying the name of the current emperor and year of that emperor’s reign. For instance, if your coin shows the Japanese characters for Shōwa and 35, your coin was minted in the 35th year of the reign of emperor Shōwa (Hirohito), which would date your coin to 1960.

Japanese numerals (fig. 1, below):

In order to date coins that use the nengo dating system, you must first be able to translate the numbers. Here’s how:

If there is only one number, simply translate that number.

EXAMPLE:

五 – 5

If a small number from Chart A is front a larger number from Chart B, you multiply the smaller number by the larger number.

EXAMPLE:

五十 – 50 (五 is the numeral for 5 and 十 is the numeral for 10)

If there is yet another number following this, the third number is added.

EXAMPLE:

五十三 – 53

Prior to 1948, Japanese numerals were written in the traditional right to left manner on coins. In order to determine if they use that method or the Western method (left to right), simply look for the Japanese symbol nen, meaning year (fig. 3). Nen always follows the date, so by using that you can determine which way the date is written.

NOTE: For the first year of the reign of an emperor, the Japanese character gan is used in place of the numeral for 1.

The second step to dating your Japanese coins is to determine which emperor the coin was minted under. To do this, I have provided a chart (fig. 2) of each emperor from the beginning of the 19th century to the present day. The characters for the name of the emperor’s reign can appear in either orientation as shown in the chart.

The easiest way to determine what date your coin is in Gregorian years, simply take the first year of the emperor’s reign, subtract 1 year and add the number on the coin.

EXAMPLE:

If the date is Shōwa 35, start with the first year of Hirohito’s reign (1926), subtract 1 and add 35. You will end up with the Christian year of 1960.