Anyone else ever come across a coin etc that they have no clue where they acquired it? I know it's a tokenice, copy, or fantasy piece. My scale's batteries are dead so I can't get a weight. I was going through my hoard and came across it. I have no clue where I got it or when.
Looks like a very crude imitation of an ancient Judaean bronze coin of the Hasmonean dynasty (c. 1st century BC), with anchor on one side and star on the other. On the anchor side, it looks like it reads "BAS" for Basileos ("king" in Greek), which is on some of the original coins, and the other side of the anchor may be something in the older form of Hebrew (which I can't read), but overall this doesn't look closely like any specific original coin. No idea who made it, when, or why, except that it it probably modern (i.e. not ancient).
Yeah, I know it's fake/worthless. I just have no clue how I got it, and was wondering if that ever happened to others Edit: and I take it I photographed the anchor side upside down.
It's a pain when this happens. This is a thread that I posted about the same topic over on the PCGS forum when it happened to me about 7 years ago. https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/755174/do-i-owe-you-money By the way, I still have the coin and I STILL don't have a clue where it came from.
I have received that exact item in the mail attached to an ad for some book or travel brochure for a cruise to the Holy Land. I suspect you or someone in the household removed the 'coin' and threw the rest in the recycle bin. There is another common one of these that replaces the six dots with a portrait of Constantine the Great allowing the same token to be glued either side up to a wider range of Mediterranean cruises/subjects. If you want more, the link below offers them with a 10,000 piece minimum. Please, don't feel obligated to send me one in thanks. Everyone in the world must have one by now. How they get 6 cents for them is a huge mystery to me. I would so much rather get an ad with a nickel taped to the paper! https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Ancient-Roman-small-bronze-widow-s_60421218349.html
For the record, the item is trying to copy the common Widow's Mite Prutah of Alexander Jannaeus. Most do not retain the tiny Hebrew letters so the copies dropped them altogether. This is a real one.
Ahh, so that's probably what happened. Girlfriend saw it in the mail and thought I'd like it. Back to the hoard it goes.
