HELP, I can't read squiggly lines!

tlhoy

OK, I'm totally lost on this one. I have 2 of these, both are scratch free and shiny red brown beauties.
I am going to keep 1 and maybe sell the other, but since I don't know what it is or how much its worth, I've come to you folks.
Does anyone read squiggly?
Thank you,
Glenn

cosmicdebris

Nice squiggly lines. I can't read 'em either.

lordmarcovan

They're from the Ottoman Empire, as evidenced by the toughra (that big squiggly on the obverse, in your first pic). I'm not sure which Ottoman country it is, but it's probably Turkey or Egypt. The Hejira date on the reverse is AH 1327, I believe (circa 1909 AD). That's all I can tell you for the moment, as I am at work, and one of the UBS Cup players wants Room Service. If nobody solves the riddle by the time I come back, I can scratch my head over it a little more. (I'm not the best at squigglies, either, but I'm learnin'.)

farthing

The coin appears to be a 1/40 Qirsh (about the size of a dime). Catalogued in Krause under Egypt as KM 300. The 1327 that LM refers to is the accession year of Muhammad V. The year of reign is 2. This is the first year of issue for the design.

The proper orientation of the coin is:
Obverse - What you have at 12:00 should be at 9:00. The year of reign would then be at the bottom of the coin above the line above the H. That is the Arabic numeral 2

Reverse - What you have at 12:00 should be at 3:00. The year of accession - 1327 would be at the bottom of the coin.

lordmarcovan

OK, here's my best guess.


Accession date: AH 1327, regnal year 2H. Egypt, under Ottoman Empire. Struck during the reign of Muhammad V.

If the coins are slightly smaller than a dime, they are 1/40th Qirsh pieces (KM300, catalog $25 UNC), or if they are closer to the size of a US cent, they are 1/20th Qirsh pieces (KM301, catalog $18 UNC). Please note that the KM numbers and values I quote are from the hardcover ANA centennial Krause catalogs, which are now more than a decade out of date. (I keep my newer editions at home and the old hardcovers at work, 'cause they're sturdier.) Somebody else can fill in the current values/KM numbers and/or correct any errors I might have made.

EDIT: from what farthing posted while I was typing, it looks like I was on the right track.

farthing

Trying to puzzle out a coin from the clues in the design can be fun!

Here's your coin in the correct alignment.

farthing

My 2001 Krause has the same values as LM quoted.

lordmarcovan

You're messin' with my head by wearin' the Magic Mushroom icon, farthing...

tlhoy

WOW Thanks, farthing and lordmarcovan

Cool, it's the size of a dime, so let's see if I got this right!
Egypt: AH 1327 (1909?) 1/40 Qirsh KM 300

tbirde56

The lunar based year 1327 ran from Jan. 23, 1909 to Jan.12, 1910. Mintage was 2 million that year.