Hi all - help identifying these - please ~

AskRaq

Can someone tell me what these little coins are? And any idea what kind of metal?? (Middle Eastern??)



Much appreciated!

lordmarcovan

They look like gold fanams from the Indian princely states, but not as "goldy" as some I had.

I suppose the gold content varied. There might've been base-metal fanams, as well.

AskRaq

Thanks for your input Lordmarcovan, I stumbled across an auction (seller didn't know either, but thought they were gold). I am curious as to the era? Any guesses?

tbirde56

You might also try your question here: South Asia Coin Group

Sapyx

Yup, they look like fanams. Some of them at least are from the Indian state of Mysore, dating from the 1700's. (KM 128.1). Mysore used it's own calendar; some dates I can see on these coins are "1217", "1218" and "1221", equating to AD 1788, 1789 and 1792.

Be aware these things are tiny, tiny coins - as small as 5mm across. CV for a "gold" fanam back in 2004 was $12 in Fine. Still, those don't look quite right - even a debased gold fanam shouldn't go black like some of those are.