Bible of Silver

Undoubtedly the most precious manuscript on permanent display at the Uppsala University Library in Sweden, the Silver Bible draws more than 100,000 visitors a year. Even if it's not in the best of conditions, the Silver Bible is still an extraordinary treasure to be savored. Otherwise known as the Codex Argenteus, it's written in Gothic, an extinct Germanic language. 

The Silver Bible is not a Bible in the conventional sense in that it only consisted of the four Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Thus, it should have been called the Silver Four Gospels but surely, the Silver Bible sounds more spectacular. Even then, it's not complete. Where there were supposed to be 336 leaves in total, there are only 188 leaves remaining. Yet, not all 188 leaves are in Uppsala as there's ONE leaf in Speyer, Germany. Without any explanation or reason, this single leaf from the Silver Bible was found with a number of secret relics belonging to an old time saint in the Agsburg's Saint Afra chapel in 1970.

Translated from Greek to Gothic by Bishop Ulfila in Ravenna around 520AD, the Silver Bible was most likely written for Theoderic the Great. The leaves of the Silver Bible are thin vellum of the highest quality, dyed a royal purple, presumably for more dramatic contrast against the words, written in pure gold and silver ink. Silver is dominant because gold is only used for the capital alphabets. The covers are also made of silver so it actually makes sense to call it the Silver Bible. At the bottom of each leaf, there's a caricature of 4 arches supported by 8 columns, drawn in silver ink with some motifs within each arch, in gold. While there's nothing holding the leaves together now, it's believed that the original binding must have been something exotic like pearls and jewels.

More than a thousand years passed before the Silver Bible was known to be found in a monastery in Werden, Germany in the sixteeth century. After a series of events, it ended up in Uppsala University in 1669. Obviously, there are many questions about the Silver Bible. What happened to it in that span of a thousand years? What about the missing 148 leaves? Why was there just that one leaf found in Speyer?

If the Bible is the Word of God, the Silver Bible certainly makes the Word worth its weight in silver and gold. Symbolically, it means that the words are true and good. Nowadays, it's better to be more prudent. Are you sure you are going to be paid the best rates for your silver? If you have to sell silver, it's best that you go to a trusted silver buyer who pays instant cash for silver.