Pobjoy Mint has released on behalf of the Isle of Man Treasury a pyramid-shaped coin containing sand from the pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb.
The issue marks the November 2007 exhibition of "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" in London. Its March 2 release coincided with the 70th anniversary of the death of archeologist Howard Carter.
The English excavator discovered the pharaoh's tomb in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt, almost completely intact. Carter went on to retire from archaeology to become a collector. He died at the age of 64 in 1939.
The coin's design comes from the ancient Egyptian story from the Books of the Underworld called "The Night Journey." The ancient Egyptians would decorate the walls of pharaohs' tombs with scenes from these books.
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