It's old, holed, and I think it's gold, but...

Steve27

Is it a coin? Background: the picture is a scan, so you can't see the luster or the proper color. It was produced by scanning the reverse (yes the reverse) and using software to "flip" the image, this made a much more readable image than the obverse which was created from the incuse striking of the reverse (does that make sense). So, is it a coin and can anyone read the Arabic?

ormandh

I am going to say no. The date is around 1909 or thereabouts. I cannot read that, but I am sure it is commemorating something. Possibly religious?!!

newsman

It's Turkish (Ottoman Empire).

Sapyx

If it's effectively bracteate, then it's not a coin; I suspect it was made by squeezing a real coin onto the "gold" blank. This picture does indeed look like the reverse of an Ottoman Turkish coin; the Arabic says "Struck in Constantinople" and the date, AH 1327 (AD 1909), which was the accession year of Sultan Muhammed V. On a real coin, the actual year the coin was struck was on the obverse.

Such imitation coins are a common feature of Middle Eastern culture - women who could not afford to adorn themselves with real gold coins would make do with these "substitutes".

Steve27

Thanks everyone!