Aachen Altar Aachen Altar The Aachen Altar (de: "Aachener Altar") or Passion Altar ("Passionsaltar") is a late gothic passion triptych in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury, made by the so-called Master of the Aachen Altar around 1515/20 in Cologne, Germany. The open, three winged polyptych altar image shows scenes from the Passion of Christ to his Ascension in continuous sequence from left to right. At the assumed time of composition, this type of depiction was already well-established. On the left wing of the altar, Jesus is crowned with the Crown of thorns and confronts Pontius Pilate. The central panel depicts the Stations of
Three-dollar piece numismatic writer Don Taxay, provision for it had been inserted at the behest of gold interests. According to Breen, Congress believed the new coin "would be convenient for exchange for rolls or small bags of silver 3¢ pieces, and for buying sheets of 3¢ stamps—always bypassing use of copper cents". In 1889, then-Mint Director James P. Kimball wrote that "it is supposed that the three-dollar piece was designed to be a multiple of the three-cent piece, for the convenience of postal transactions". Numismatist Walter Hagans in his 2003 article on the three-dollar coin notes and dismisses the postal explanation, writing