Anyone have a clue what this might be?

BillyKingsley

Picked it out of my local dealer's 10 for $1 bin...it looks like a token of some sort...if those are words, I don't even know what language they are. Same design on both sides. Thanks in advance!

LochNESS

I agree it's a token not a coin:
1) Identical faces (although their oxidation/color doesn't seem to match; Aluminum? Zinc?)
2) Stars and rims are well-executed and not worn, suggesting modern strike (not Ancient Europe or Mesopotamia)
3) Not enough markings to list Value and Date; most likely they are Value, no Date; no visible Mint Mark, monogram, Country or motto

Interesting marks indeed. You probably know this but... Arabic languages use slashes, dashes and V ^ < > marks as numbers (amongst other symbols). Ironic, considering we refer to Western digits as "Arabic Numerals." Open any Krause catalog and turn to page 6 (or thereabouts); they have a pretty descent chart on this sort of thing called "Standard International Numeral Systems." Doesn't resemble any Chinese, Korean or Japanese I've ever seen. Too straight to be Javanese or Thai. Definitely not cursive enough to be Egyptian. Not from Bhutan. Definitely not Hebrew. Easier to say what it's not, than what it is ...

Most troubling for me is the small ˚ top left. Doubt it's a zero because it's so small and doesn't stand alone. I'd guess that ˚ is part of a larger character which includes the four surrounding dashes. Perhaps this cluster of symbols is the date, but I doubt it. I have never seen a date represented in a cluster like that. They are always linear (left to right, or right to left; or around the edge but not in quadrants or clusters).

Rotate 90˚ (either direction) and it might make more sense. Now in a row, instead of the column, you might see the complex character on one side, separated by a horizontal dash, and three marks on the opposing side (either < I I or I I > depending which way you rotated). I would say those are more likely to be numbers than letters.

The latter half resembles Arabic... sort of ... Hyderabad Arabic... I'm not completely comfortable with that decision but the handwritten appearance definitely leans more towards Arabic languages in my opinion!

LochNESS

PS: I'm curious, if you asked the dealer, what leads he gave you? Do you know where he frequently travels? Any idea where he purchased it from?

Probably a token for a carnival ride but you never know. Thanks for posting!

BillyKingsley

Thanks for the excellent post! It feels and looks like Stainless Steel, that's seen a LOT of wear and tear...for some reason my new scanner doesn't always match the color on both sides of the same coin (or in this case, token) even though it is. It's definitly too heavy to be aluminum, and nowhere near zinc, but I don't have a scale to weigh it. It's the same size as a US or Canadian quarter. (which also lends credence to the thought of it being a token as well, as most modern game and ride tokens are that size)

I pulled out my Krause and even with it in hand I couldn't match the markings to any date. I wonder if it is actually undated and that's a name of whoever issued it?

Unfortunatly the dealer likely wouldn't be much help, he has a large bucket on his counter of assorted world coins, I've pulled things from around the world from it, and things ranging in age from 1899-2002. He mentioned in the past that he gets most of them by buying collections.

I'm also thinking that the fields may be more grainy in nature than having gotten that look in circulation, though it was certainly passed around quite a bit.

It's certainly a mystery!

LochNESS

No problemo just paying it forward.

Stainless Steel! Of course. That would account for the heavier weight. Thought I saw oxidation in the right photo but after looking again, I'm thinking corrosion. I've seen heavily-corroded coppers that resemble this color and bumpy texture (in the fields). But if you think steel then it probably is steel. Salt water, maybe would cause this appearance?

I'm familiar with the bargain box. Didn't expect the dealer to know from where this originated, however, might've known where he bought it (most recent point of sale prior to you); might help trace its origin. Dealers who move high volume can sometimes identify bargain box coins because it was recently purchased (like a 5 lbs. bag from the estate sale last weekend, etc). Never hurts to ask but usually have to ask when you're there. Doubtful they would remember days or weeks after.

I am not a professional linguist, but I do have a bachelors in Comparative Literature and have been collecting for 18 years. I do not see any letters. If you connected the dots and dashes, you might (from top to bottom) read " B - I - O - V " or " E - I - O - V " ... you could argue the V is actually a U, yielding "E-I-O-U" but I really don't think that's what we have here.
I think the design needs to be rotated 90˚ and read as " III - II > "

STLNATS

Interesting piece but given the composition and size, it looks like a video game token maybe from somewhere in asia or the middle east. I assume a plain edge? I've not seen this one but a lot of bargain bins will have a few stray game tokens mixed in. The lettering looks like some sort of novelty font. I'd poke around ebay and see if you can come up with anything similar. Also I assume there are video game collectors (know one that does Midwest US related) so maybe there's a web site as well. What fun!

sumnom

It's Japanese.

sumnom

The image should be turned 90 degrees to the right.

sumnom

I can't figure it out for the moment but I would guess it's a bus token.

Sapyx

I'd have guessed a Japanese pachinko token. I've certainly seen several pachinko tokens that are very similar in style and fabric.

LochNESS

I'm surprised you guys are going Japanese, some of the markings are unlike any I've ever seen and I have a wide range of Japanese in my collection. Especially modern (which this is).

I'd be very curious to see a translation.

lordmarcovan

<< <i>Anyone have a clue what this might be? >>

Looks like a very nice Red X to me.

STLNATS

I wonder if this this isn't a Korean token. Korean uses the little circle of the first character and I saw the "I>" at the bottom used on a Korean news photo this am; in the story they were oriented 180 degrees, however. Nothing on ebay similar, but that's hardly definative. These little mysteries certainly make collecting fun!

satootoko

<< <i>Doesn't resemble any Chinese, Korean or Japanese I've ever seen. >>

Nevertheless Sumnom is correct.

The characters (left to right) are Ku Ri Pu. (The dash makes it a long Ri, and the small circle at the top right of the last character changes "Hu" or "Fu" to "Pu".)

It's not a Japanese word known to my wife, and it's not in any of my Japanese English dictionaries, so it's probably the trade name of a Pachinko Parlor, or some other business using tokens.

LochNESS

Thanks for the education! Very informative and helpful. I'll definitely be saving this for future reference. At least I got the "rotate 90˚" right

BillyKingsley

Thanks all! I knew that it likely should be rotated in one way or another, but I had no clue which way, so I figured, when it doubt, stand on end...or some such.

Thanks for the translation, Roy! I would have been happy to just know where it came from, knowing what it says is a very nice bonus

sumnom

<< <i>

<< <i>Doesn't resemble any Chinese, Korean or Japanese I've ever seen. >>

Nevertheless Sumnom is correct.

The characters (left to right) are Ku Ri Pu. (The dash makes it a long Ri, and the small circle at the top right of the last character changes "Hu" or "Fu" to "Pu".)

It's not a Japanese word known to my wife, and it's not in any of my Japanese English dictionaries, so it's probably the trade name of a Pachinko Parlor, or some other business using tokens. >>



Thanks for backing me up, Roy!

sumnom

<< <i>I'm surprised you guys are going Japanese, some of the markings are unlike any I've ever seen and I have a wide range of Japanese in my collection. Especially modern (which this is).

I'd be very curious to see a translation. >>



The reason it looks unlike your other Japanese coins is that this token is in the hiragana script while actual coins only have kanji (Chinese characters).

Hiragana

sumnom

Roy, I thought it read, "Kuiipu." Is that a "ri" or an "i" in there?

I was also wondering if we can read it right to left (puuiku? puuriku?). I am not sure which way to go.

pruebas

It is ku-ii-pu or qu-ii-pu ( くいーぷ in hiragana) and a pachinko chain. The photo of the token is rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise.

Link

LochNESS

<< <i>Thanks for the education! Very informative and helpful. I'll definitely be saving this for future reference. At least I got the "rotate 90¢ª" right >>



Can not understate how appreciative I am that you guys took the time to share all this knowledge - and linkage! This is why I love reading these boards.

satootoko

<< <i>Roy, I thought it read, "Kuiipu." Is that a "ri" or an "i" in there? >>

Ooops!

<< <i>I was also wondering if we can read it right to left (puuiku? puuriku?). I am not sure which way to go. >>

Agreed.

sumnom

<< <i>It is ku-ii-pu or qu-ii-pu ( くいーぷ in hiragana) and a pachinko chain. The photo of the token is rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise.

Link >>



How were you able to type in hiragana? I have tried to type in Korean and Chinese here before but it never worked.

satootoko

<< <i>How were you able to type in hiragana? >>

I don't know how pruebas does it, but I have to use a two-step process.

I have a Japanese word processing program which allows me to type in English letters with output in my choice of ひらがな (hiragana), カタカナ (katakana), or kanji (漢字 ), so I type in what I want to include in a forum post, then cut and paste it from the WP program to the forum response.