Unusual Egyptian Magic Coin from France

WillieBoyd2

Egyptian Magic Coins usually look like this:



The obverse has a seated Pharaoh and the reverse has a Sphinx and Pyramids.

They are usually made in America and have been since the early 1900's.

This one came from an Ebay seller in France:



The obverse has an Egyptian obelisk, a temple, and two lines of Sphinxes.
The reverse is the standard one.

I wonder why someone decided that the French coin needed a different obverse.

I would ponder this more but I have to go and make Tana Leaf tea for Kharis.

lostincoins

the reverse of the french coin has many differences from the us coin.....

ricko

And why are they called magic coins?? Cheers, RickO

CaptHenway

<< <i>And why are they called magic coins?? Cheers, RickO >>



Good question. I would guess that a stage magician might prefer to use a cheap, brass, half dollar-sized token for his sleight-of-hand act than a real half dollar because if it went flying off into the crowd he was only out the few cents that the token cost rather than 50 cents.

Also, it looked good. He could flash it to the people near him and they might be impressed by the symbols. Egyptian icons were very popular in the 1920's because of the discovery of King Tut's Tomb. The pyramids and Sphynx are easily recognizable.

These are just suppositions on my part. No facts were harmed in the making of this post. Your post may vary.

ScarsdaleCoin

I could write countless pages on Magicians Tokens but they have been around for hundreds of years for example you can Google 1847 Herr Alexander token...
Magicians would use them several ways....either as a advertising piece or during a trick....
while there are several books the most often quoted is Kuethe Book and the tokens have MT #s
similar to a so called dollar having an HK #

I actually have quite an extensive collection, having been collecting them for 40+ years and blessed to have been able to purchase several magicians collections over the years....if only I actually had the time to sit one day and go through them all....

ricko

Thanks, that makes sense.... did not realize that there were specific creations for magicians....just assumed they used regular coins. The coins used for close up magic in Magic Castle (California) were all standard coins....Cheers, RickO

WillieBoyd2

This one is from Australia:



Can anyone identify the figure with the long ears to the left of the seated Pharoah?

thebeav

I think it's pikachu.......

Cam40

...Pikachu

Gesundheit

cladking

<< <i>I think it's pikachu....... >>



You may not be far off.

I'd guess that it's an artist's idea of what (S)et(h) would look like frontal if the
w3s-sceptre depiction of him is accurate. All of this is just confusion and I ser-
iously doubt it matters what the figure is supposed to be (or ever did matter).

These "medals" are sold to tourists primarily in Egypt and that is probably a pret-
ty vast array of them. Dies for this type of thing usually aren't stored so repeat
orders will generate new dies and a distinct type.

The "Avenue of Sphinxes" is in Luxor far up river from the pyramids so were likely
sold there and the others probably at Giza.

cladking

<< <i>And why are they called magic coins?? >>



I don't know that they are called "magic coins" but if they are they might
be that they are marketed this way or it might be because Egyptologists
believe the ancient people believed in "magic" and that even their writing
was "magical".