11 Görlitz Shekels, [mostly Europe, late 19th century]. The first "Görlitz Shekel" coins were struck in the 15th century, at a time when few knew what Jewish coins from the First Jewish-Roman War looked like. Their invention is attributed to George Emmerich, mayor of Görlitz, Prussia, who visited Palestine as a pilgrim in 1465, and upon his return to Görlitz, built a replica of the Holy Sepulchre. The pilgrims who came to the site were offered souvenir tokens, first introduced as copies of one of the thirty pieces of silver given to Judas Iscariot by the Romans for betraying Jesus. Ever since, such coins were struck with small variations, at first throughout the Holy Roman Empire and later in other countries, including the United States, and were popular among Jews and Christians alike. Struck without seeing a genuine shekel, the Görlitz Shekels design relied on the few and faulty testimonies that appeared in books and on imagination. Thus, while ancient Jewish coins bear legends in Ancient Hebrew script (Paleo-Hebrew), the legends "Shekel Israel" and "Holy Jerusalem" appear on Görlitz Shekels in square Hebrew script; the pomegranate branch and the goblet, while taken from descriptions of genuine shekel coins, vary in design. Although at first the coins were introduced as souvenirs, it wasn't long before they started being sold as ancient coins from the Temple period. Over the years, they were used for different purposes: they served as souvenirs and amulets; among the Jews of Europe, they were used as a remembrance of the half shekel collected in the time of the Temple or used for charity or for observing the Mitzvah of gifts to the poor on Purim; some used them as the five coins for Pidyon Haben (Redemption of the Son). Size and condition vary. One of the coins is perforated.