My first post in the ancients forum. My buddy has this peice, wants to know country of origin.

Just ran Into a friend with this odd coin. Non magnetic, weighs exactly 3 grams. Appears to be brass, a search of images on google and with lens brought back one match which states it to be vietnamese . Any help is appreciated.

 

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It's a replica of a Spanish cob 8 reales.

 

Modern tourist copy of a Spanish colonial 8 escudos gold. Here's a link to a genuine specimen:
https://ocrarecoin.com/1712-8-escud...-animas-1715-fleet-shipwreck-pcgs-au-details/

 

Thank you . I'm guessing an original would be silver?

 

There were very similar designs used for silver and gold. These "cob" coins were crudely struck in the Spanish colonies in Mexico and Central and South America; their purpose was to quickly turn silver and gold mined in the New World into convenient pieces that could be shipped back to Spain. The gold coins had a denomination of 8 escudos, the silver were 8 reales. Modern copies are usually made of brass and are supposed to look like the 8 escudos; they're often sold at beach tourist shops, sometimes with a card discussing pirate history. They're not really intended to fool anyone, but sometimes they get separated from their descriptive card and end up confusing their new owner.