Optatius Buyssens, a Belgian soldier during World War I, was famous for a remarkable incident where coins in his pocket saved his life. During a fierce battle, Buyssens was shot, and the bullet struck the pocket where he kept his coins. Instead of penetrating his body, the bullet was stopped by six coins, which absorbed the impact and spared his life. Three of the coins are from Belgium and three are from France. Today, the coins are in possession of Buyssens’ great-grandson, Vincent Buyssens, who lives in Antwerp.
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| The coins that saved Belgian soldier Optatius Buyssens’s life. |
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| Optatius carried the coins in his breast pocket. |
“Ironically, the coins were the reason why he got shot,” Buyssens told
CNN. “It was the noise of them clinging together in his breast pocket which gave his position away.”
Optatius Buyssens was initially barred from the army because of a hip injury but eventually joined as a volunteer. He was shot during a scouting mission in September 1914 near Lebbeke, Belgium. The German soldier who shot him kicked his head and Optatius Buyssens pretended to be dead. Once the soldier walked away, Buyssens and another comrade crawled to safety.
Vincent said it wasn’t until 2018 that he discovered the whole story about the coins in a journal kept by his great-grandfather’s brother, who was an avid archivist. Buyssens said he received photos of the journal from a local museum.
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| Optatius Buyssens fought as a soldier during World War I. |
After the War, Optatius had heart problems but he lived until 1958.
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