Unknowns

UNKNOWN COINS - TAKE A GUESS OR ADD INFO!

If you have any answers or coins that you can't identify, please E-MAIL me: tbirde@psknet.com

Updated: 7/18/08

France medal or jeton of Louis XV?

Jeton?

Indian state gold fanam? ~10mm

Fanam?

Thailand token or pattern?

Thai pattern or token?

Ancient? Copy or genuine?

Dolphins and Lion.

Ancient? corroded and pitted copper? found during an archaeological excavation of an Ohio Woodland site dating to approximately 1000-1500 AD

Ancient?, found in America

Israeli peace token? Says "Israel; 1 Peace". Anyone know?

Peace token?

Spanish Netherlands? - ~1600

'An undated copper duit of the province of Holland under Spanish rule, type of the period 1590 - 1598. The first duit struck in copper, rather than low grade silver. Obverse legend is PHS.DG.HISPZREX.COMS.HOL (Philip, by the grace of god king of Spain etcetera count of Holland) around a Burgundy cross (Philip got his Holland title from his Burgundy inheritance). Reverse legend DOMINUS.MIHI.ADIUTOR (God is my helper) around the arms of Holland.' Thanks to Peter Kraneveld!

British 1820 3/4 cent pattern? Victoria wasn't Queen until 1837!

Fantasy piece fantasy
According to the 2005 edition of 'Unusual World Coins', it is listed as X-3 under the Straits Settlements as a fantasy piece with the following notation:
'Modern fantasy issue of "unknown" origin struck without government authorization for the obvious confusion of the numismatic community.'

German state of Hesse-Cassel? - 1 heller, 1724 sheide muntz (small change)

unknown

Indian State - Bull & Horseman type dump coin - 10th to 14th centuries N.India, Pakistan, Afghanistan

Dump coin

Great Site for Ancients and how to grade them!

Japan - A medal of some kind. Made after 1948. Mt. Fuji, 'Great Japan', horseman with sword. Anyone read Japanese?

StrainSop@aol.com A medal.
Thanks to Roy Zukerman and his wife.

Carthage? - Who knows? Found in mountains south of Tripoli, Libya. 30 mm, 32 grams.
One answer says this is a contemporary fake.

fake?

China - Spade coins, sycee?

Spade coins- likely modern souvenirs or counterfeits.
'The first is a “spade” coin, but these did not have the 3 circular holes. The second is a charm. The third is a copy of a spade of the Wang Mang period (4-22 AD) but its proportions are all wrong- way to skinny. The writing is also not what I would expect to see on a real coin. The metal does not look right, and seems to be similar for all- they should be copper, not grey-coloured metal.' Thanks to David Larson!

China - A couple dollar size coins - Can you identify?
Copper-nickel? Probably counterfeits.

1916 Kwangsi Medal replica.

#2 unknown coin rbwadley@arn.net Ration Dollar fake.
Left image: The two top characters, from right to left, read "military rations" or "military pay".
Right image: The top two characters, right to left, read (literally) "sufficient mark". This is a mark referring to the purity of silver.
If this coin/token is what it purports to be, it is silver of a "sufficient purity". The two characters going down mean something along the
lines of "circulating", "current", or "widely accepted".
'The first is based on a medal issued in 1916 showing Gen Lu Yu-Ting, Kwangsi, issued in silver and gold. The head and eagle designs are basically from the medal, and the outer parts, and the text, has been changed. '
'The second is forgery of a ration dollar (original issued c.1865) with a strange signature, similar to the listing of Kann F7.(Yes, forgery7).'
'There are a tremendous number of “reproductions” of Chinese coins that never existed showing up now, to go with the flood of fake trade dollars, and others (The last show I was at I was given 15 different Chinese and world coin/ fantasy designs that came from China recently. They are sold to tourists for 10 Dollars US, but can be obtained from the vendors as cheaply as 5 Yuan (1/3 of a dollar about).' Thanks to David Larson!

French Louis XVIII jeton (token)? oblong

Jeton?

Off center strike- on a brass Philippines 5 sentimos (1967-74), about 18mm in diameter

Thanks to Martin Arriola!

Japanese hilt guard from a katana (Japanese curved sword) or possibly a Korean charm. Has some numbers on it: 5, 9 on one side and 8 on the other.

"Lodging [or peace?], health and happiness/wealth"?
Thanks to Roy Zukerman and his wife and David Larson.

This bronze ~25mm replica is similar to the ~36 mm silver 1848 Lombardy (Italy) revolutionary 5 Lire except it is smaller and has gibberish instead of real lettering like the genuine coin. Reports say that it was a prize in cereal boxes back in the 1960s.

Counterfeit or souvenir or cereal box prize?

Panama tokens - a gold mine token and merchant token.
Thanks to David Plowman's expertise:
Regarding your Panama tokens - they are listed in a Krause Publication
"Latin American Tokens" by Russell Rulau.

1) The Darien Gold Mining Company Limited was a British outfit. They broke
about even or made a small profit, and quit mining after being in business a
number of years. They issued three sets of tokens, one in 1894, a second a
little later, and a third in 1903. The token is from that second series
and is Rulau's "Dar 6". The counterstamp of 3 is thought to represent the
camp number. The Spanish legend "PARA SIMPLIFICAR LAS CUENTAS NADA MAS"
means "TO SIMPLIFY ACCOUNTING, NOTHING MORE".
Rulau's rather low catalog value is $60 in Fine. The coin you are showing
appears to be the one Louis and Cora Hudson have been trying to sell.

2) "Santiago Garcia" is a Spanish name - "JAMES GARCIA" translated to
English. Colon is the city in Panama at the northern or Atlantic entrance
to the Canal. A lot of merchant tokens were issued in Colon in the 1890's,
and this is probably one of those merchant tokens. It is Rulau's "Col 34"
and given a value of $45 in Very Fine. The coin you are showing may be the
one Stephanie Hudson was selling on ebay.

Gold mine token.
unknown coin

Merchant token.

Brunswick-Luneburg? Thaler size silver medal? 1703... anybody???
Ian Milne wrote:
Yes...it is a thaler but from Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (just a different branch of
that family). The conjoined busts are Rudolph August and Anton Ulrich
(1685 - 1704). This particular thcler was issued for three years ending in 1703.

German Thaler.

Danish arcade token -23mm. Confirmation thanks to Lennart Fredericksen:
It is a 25 ore play money for a slot machine from "Bakken". 1885 is the date the company started. Magnetic (scarcer) and non-magnetic varieties.
http://www.thelastcall.dk/~erikoest/dk_info.htm#JaegersborgDyrehave_DK
Jægersborg Deer Park with Bakken (Dyrehavsbakken), on the island of Zealand. Dyrehaven (The Deer Park) is an enchanting and ancient forest situated near the sea at Klampenborg, to the north of Copenhagen. The very old Dyrehavsbakken is fondly referred to as "Bakken" (- "The Hill") by most Danes. Already from 1583 people came to visit the curative spring, Bakken is Europe's oldest amusement park. Just a little north of Copenhagen, it nestles in woodland, by a lake, close to the coast and Klampenborg station, only 15 minutes away from the centre of Copenhagen by bus, train or car. At Bakken you will find more than 100 attractions, almost 40 restaurants and cafes. Several places feature music and dancing. Bakken is more fun - and the entrance is always free.

Arcade token.

U.S. Philippines 1936 50c with problems...blurred features, pitting, and high and low areas. The coin also is thinner along the edge where the blurred features are and doesn't lay completely flat. Coin also show shows fine scratches from a harsh cleaning.
From Walt Barnes:
Most of the issue was in the Philippines treasury as backing for the silver peso when WWII began and were dumped in Manila Bay off Corregidor to keep them from falling to the Japanese. Of course, the Japanese tried to recover them, but the Filipino divers they used broke the cases open and scattered the contents all over the bottom. Out of the 20 million minted about 70% were recovered. Most of the ones you see now that were recovered have extensive sea water corrosion and cleaning marks on them. Coins that stayed on land are quite scarce and I have only seen the set undamaged once. By the way, the set is of three coins, the 50 centavo you have and two 1-peso coins.

From the bottom of Manila Bay.

Spain 10 Escudos gold (fake?), holed, may be brass counterfeit. Weighs only about half of what a real one should, plain edge, but a nice yellow gold sheen from a scraping inside the hole. Any ideas?

'A jeweller's piece. In the 19th century, it became fashionable to use coins for jewelry. In some countries, this was because a bride would receive a gold coin at her wedding from the groom. For people who could not afford a real coin, jewellers gilded brass pieces. Usually, they were delivered without a hole and the jeweller pierced them.'Thanks to Peter Kraneveld!

Some Others (below) left to right:

Germany, 2 15mm steel, 1 and 2 spielgeld (play money).
Turkey? 722 (78) ??? holed.
Great Britain, a farthing counter token.
Vatican, 1927, Pius XI Jubilee Year,?.
Thailand, 2508 (1965), 20.5mm cast temple medal?, Buddha / temple.
Germany, a brass 20mm token, Gut Fur 1/2 Liter Bier / Convikt Brai Erei Dillingen; Evidently good
for a half liter of beer at the Dillingen WWII prison camp on the Danube about 50 miles northwest of Munich.
Philippines, a 20mm steel token, No Cash Value, PAE on both sides, PAE is Philippine American Embroidery (Co.). It is in the BASSO catalog as #314. Thanks to Mark Wm Clark.
China, Northern Sung dynasty, cash?.
Belgium, a bronze medal, 30mm, Universal Exposition in Liege, 1905.
France, 1 ecu, aluminum, 11-7-93, 32mm, Draguignan, 40th Anniversary of the Olive?: For this and other pics see HERE.

Exonumia: Medal, Tokens, Misc.

Coins with Varieties or Oddities

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