Is this an ancient coin? If so please help ID

Found this in my LCS junk box and bought it for 15 cents. Looks like an ancient to me, but I have no idea where to even start to ID it. Please help!

 

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Could be but I'm thinking more like mideval times.

 

Crusader imitation of an Ayyubid dirham.

 

So its a cast metal copy.

 

a contemporary counterfeit. That category of coin has been inspiring me recently.

 

Contemporary meaning it was made around the same time as the genuine coin. So it would probably be considered medieval rather than ancient.

 

It doesn’t look cast—just imitating the features of the official coinage of the time.

 

Thanks for your input everybody! I really appreciate your help. So is there any value to it?

 

I can't tell how much but it does have some value for sure. Contemporary imitations can be less valuable but sometimes more valuable than their 'official' counterpart.
This is a nice and interesting coin. Probably worth a few dozens bucks, looking quickly at auction results. For 15 cents that's a steal anyway!

 

What coin is this an imitation of ? Maybe with a name and possible date range I can do some more research on it. Again, Thank you for the information!

 

the Crusaders copied some of the coins that were already circulating in the Levant. It is unlikely to get more specific than that, as many did not know arabic, and thus the legends are fairly meaningless. However, I am by no means an expert on these and stand to be corrected. I’d trust @THCoins’ assessment, and if you just research what he said you should find similar coins (and yes, a heck of a steal for 15 cents!)

 

I hadn’t seen that you paid 15 cents. I’ll happily give you 10x that .

 

@FitzNigel @THCoins Thank you for the information. What THcoins wrote hadn't sunk in when I asked the ID question. Now that I've had my coffee.....things are better! LOL. I've done some research, I haven't pinned much down yet, but working on it! Thank Again!
Seems to be a very interesting coin.

 

Hello

I read al-Mustansir or al-Musta’sim.

 

Is it copper or silver? On it's face it is an issue of the Ayubbid sultan al-Kamil Muhammad, also citing the 'Abbasid caliph al-Mustansir. Only the last digit of the date اربع is visible, so either AH [62]4 or [63]4.

 

It looks like copper to me. Not seeing any silver color to it at all.

 

In that case, it's a copper fals of al-Kamil as described above. The mint name is missing but based on the small circles between lines of script, perhaps Harran. The date is xx4, (either 624 or 634).
https://www.zeno.ru/showgallery.php?cat=9459

 

@dltsrq Thank you so much for that information! You guys amaze me with your knowledge!

 

It looks like the Islamic coins called "dirhams" from the Middle Ages.

Kind of like these ones but a different design.

Have you considered doing an acid test to see if they are indeed silver?

Because if it is silver then even as bullion you got a good deal.

 

Why would you take acid to it if it were a bronze coin? The value of it being 800+ years old outweighs the small amount of bullion to be found in these coins. And if it is silver, it’s unlikely to be the pure silver you find in modern bullion.