Leviathan

It’s a pleasure to present Leviathan coin, the third issue in our Angels and Demons series.

In Christianity, Leviathan was adopted from the Old Testament, but its image was transformed in medieval Christian tradition. It came to be considered an oceanic demon, one of the forms of Satan or one of the princes of hell. In Christian demonology, Leviathan is the lord of the depths and symbolizes pride, envy, or the sin of uncontrollable passions. He appears as a guardian of Hell or a tempting demon that emerges from the abyssal waters. Authors like Thomas Aquinas and grimoires such as the Dictionnaire Infernal classify him as a demonic being associated with the sea, emotional darkness, the occult, and the unfathomable.

In Judaism, Leviathan (לויתן) is presented in biblical texts as a colossal and chaotic sea creature created by God at the beginning of the world. In the Book of Job 41, it is described in great detail as an invulnerable being that spits fire and lives in the ocean depths. It also appears in Isaiah 27:1, where God promises to destroy it at the end of times. Although it is not called a “demon” in the sacred texts, in Jewish mystical and apocalyptic literature (such as the Talmud and the Midrash), Leviathan takes on a darker character: it is considered a monster of the depths, a symbol of the chaos that God must contain; it represents the destructive and demonic force of the ocean, associated with evil that will be defeated at the end of days; in some stories, God created a male and a female, but killed the female so they wouldn’t destroy the world.

As a symbol, both in Christianity and Judaism, Leviathan represents the oceanic and primordial chaos, the destructive and demonic force of the deep sea, and the power that only God can dominate or destroy.

On the reverse, the demon Leviathan is depicted with his power unleashed, sinking a giant ship full of passengers and crew, which appears small in comparison to his colossal body. The great ship, breaking and sinking, is surrounded by the demon’s tentacles and small emergency boats filled with people trying to save their lives, while being attacked by small flying demons serving Prince Leviathan. It is a hellish scene worthy of the greatest demon in creation.

The obverse depicts the dichotomy of heaven and hell, dividing the coin into two hemispheres. On the left is heaven with a peaceful and harmonious environment, with deer grazing peacefully in the meadow, while on the right is hell, barren and dangerous, without resources and barren, with the dry remains on the ground and crows desiring food. In the centre is the tree of life, lush and splendid on the left and withered and gloomy on the right. Under the tree is the coat of arms of Niue, with the face value and the year and country of issue.