Does anyone know what this is?

Hiddendragon

I'm not even positive this is a coin, but I found it in a bargain bin at a local coin store and I thought there was a possibility it was something rare or unusual so I spent a quarter on it. It's about the size of a dime and there's definitely a pattern, but nothing recognizable as a language. The back side is basically just a few intented grooves. I thought it looked rather primitive.

mudskippie

What makes you think that this coin is a pattern?

Hiddendragon

Well, to me it looks like some sort of design, I just don't know what it is. In the middle there's a figure that kind of looks like an f. To the right of that is a figure that kind of looks like an ankh. On the left is another design though I couldn't say exactly what. (I should say that as I describe this I'm holding it about 120 degrees counterclockwise to the way it is situated in the scan I posted). I don't know what to make of it and that's why I'm hoping someone else in the world has seen something like this before because there's no way I can really search a database.

spoon

My educated guess is that it's likely an Indian copper of some sort. There's a ton of different kinds that were made rather crudely, are hard to impossible to identify, and cheaply available in junk boxes. My hunch is that looks like a fragment of a design I've seen from some Indian state from the 1800s. But there are other possibilities - similarly crude coins can be found in abundance from north Africa, Central Asia & the Middle East as well. Either way, for 25c it's a nice deal and a neat old coin, even if it remains a mystery! (though probably not worth a whole heck of a lot)

Edit - Welcome to the forum, btw!

Sapyx

I would suppose it to be an "Indian states" coin, but which state I'm not sure. If so, then the language on it would be Farsi, a local variant on Arabic. Indian native copper coins were hammered, not machine-struck, and often appear crude, thick and with much of the design missing.

They also usually have a mintmark of some kind prominently visible, which I don't see on this coin. The only possibility is a kind of sword-shaped symbol; the state of Baroda often featured a sword mintmark. Zeno.ru example.

harasha

Farsi, a local variant on Arabic

Uh oh. I think my Iranian friends would like to have a chat with you about describing Farsi in such a way.

Farsi may use the Arab alphabet, but it is a language all its own.

TokenTinker

Reminds me of the Peshawar designs.

SYRACUSIAN

<< <i>Farsi, a local variant on Arabic

Uh oh. I think my Iranian friends would like to have a chat with you about describing Farsi in such a way.

Farsi may use the Arab alphabet, but it is a language all its own. >>




OK a language of its own, but not confined to Iran,yes? Languages travel with people.


The word farsi became a Greek expression in the 20th century, etymologists should look at why :
you speak a language farsi (other than your native) , means that you speak it fluently.



For the coin, I would agree that it belongs to the Indian Princely States varieties.

lordmarcovan

Yep. I'm on the Indian Princely States bandwagon, though I couldn't ID it definitively. We have some Indian members here, though, so maybe one of them will know.

It's kind of fat and chunky, isn't it?

It's fairly safe to assume it's at least 150 years old. Possibly much older than that.

I'd say that was one quarter well spent, regardless of what it is.

coinpictures

It looks like cat kibble.

lordmarcovan

I'd hate to encounter the cat who could chew something like that!

Bjorn

Certainly looks like a dump coinage - can you add photos of the other side and/or side view?

newsman

<< <i>

<< <i>Farsi, a local variant on Arabic

Uh oh. I think my Iranian friends would like to have a chat with you about describing Farsi in such a way.

Farsi may use the Arab alphabet, but it is a language all its own. >>




OK a language of its own, but not confined to Iran,yes? Languages travel with people.


The word farsi became a Greek expression in the 20th century, etymologists should look at why :
you speak a language farsi (other than your native) , means that you speak it fluently.




For the coin, I would agree that it belongs to the Indian Princely States varieties. >>



"Farsi" is the Persian word for the Persian language. It's also spoken in Afghanistan, where it is known as Dari, and is related to both Pashto and Urdu, the language of Pakistan. It's also closely related to Turkish -- could that be where the Greek expression came from?

All these languages (except Turkish) use a variant of the Arabic script that originated in Iran and traveled eastward with the spread of Islam. It's not exactly the same script because Arabic has fewer (and different) letters in its alphabet than Farsi or the other Indo-European languages.

Hiddendragon

Thanks for all the replies. It seems like most people say something from India, and I do agree that some things on the Peshawar coin that someone posted look similar. And yes, as someone asked, it is rather fat and chunky. I've attached a scan of the back side. You will see why i didnt' bother before, because you can hardly see anything on the photo. It looks more worn down on this side and the scan didn't pick up what's there very well. As for a photo of the side, I don't think you'd really see anything.