Wow! You've got me, there. I'm stumped. Looks rather Eastern, and possibly ancient. Certainly does look like gold. Interesting! I hope someone can ID it for you because I'm curious.
looks a little like a gold dinar like this one. Ayyubids, Abu Bakr II, Dinar, al-Qahira (Cairo), AU(55-58), Gold @THCoins would know.
It’s like a Seljuq dinar of the 11th century, but the style is poor (and these coins often have a low gold content). By the way, both Ayyubid pictures are upside down.
Knowing the weight (in grams) might be of some help. It may also be double struck or have been struck with rusty dies, partially blurring the text.
The Seljuks were not very good at minting coins However, the Seljuks of Rum made beautifull coins at Konya Mint
That’s an imitation without any doubt. Could be contemporary. I’d like to know the weight of both coins. These are not Arabic letters, it’s just gibberish. Either a medal or a very bad Crusader imitation. And it looks like you made two pics of the same side.
@andronik, do you know where these coins were found? I mean, in which country or province. That may lead us to the identity of the coins. The Ayyubids may be right on the head. The second coin is probably an imitation of an Ayyubid dinar, like this one, that dates from 1204 AD. This is the period of the Fourth Crusade, a rather shameful affair from the Western point of view, when Constantinople was sacked by mutinous crusaders. Some of the plunder, stunning jewels and icons may still be seen in St. Mark's Basilica in Venice. And this is a (debased) gold crusader imitation of about 1150 AD, as you may see the style is much more Arabic than your gold coin. The makers of both of your coins were not able to read Arabic, probably they couldn't care less. Therefore, these coins probably did not circulate in Asia Minor or other islamic lands, and that makes me curious where they were found.
They were allegedly found on farm near Leskovac, South Serbia, and they were brought to me as I work in museum, but i have never seen this kind of coins. I usually post here asking for help when i dont know what type of coin i am dealing with or when i am unsure are they real or fake. I appreciate every bit of help!
Send me some details pictures of the coins and I'll ask some well-known experts in Arabic coinage. I'll see if I can get some answers. I, for one, have never seen the second one, at least, in this form...
Thanks, that helps a lot. To me, they look like gold and like original medieval issues, probably of the 1000-1250 AD period. But it would help knowing the weight and diameter of both coins, the other side of the second coin, and possible other finds on that field near Leskovac.
Probably this is where to look, in any case for the second coin. A crusader bezant, or 12th-13th century imitation of a Fatimid dinar. Minted in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
