While I do love oddities concerning coins or general history, I found these to be very cool and like to see how other cultures and generations used coins and even coins from other countries. I was able to get numerous coins from the auction as well as the below two items. I will post the Iran coins on a separate post. INDONESIAN: vintage coin doll from Bali, this piece presents a standing figure composed of Chinese cash coins of the Qing dynasty tied together with string, the figure has a stylized hand-carved face, hands and feet, a wonderful intact example! The Indonesian "Prosperity Doll", sometimes referred to as a "Wedding Doll" as it was custom to give as a marriage gift or given as gifts to wish prosperity upon the recipient. This is an excellent example of a hand made Wedding Doll. Chinese cash coins continued to circulate in the Dutch East Indies after they were demonetized in China and were later used in Bali until 1970. They are still used for most Hindu rituals today. ex Charles Opitz Collection. I picked it up yesterday at auction with a middle eastern dagger. MIDDLE-EASTERN: decorated knife, 300mm, Arab knife with bone handle and scabbard completely covered with colorful beads and cowrie shells, Arabic inscriptions on both sides of the blade, EF, ex Charles Opitz Collection.
Very cool! Any hope of getting a transcription/translation of the blade inscriptions? I can't imagine Google's language tools would be quite up to Arabic calligraphy yet...
Yes I got a native speaker that will help me once I get it in hand. He stated he had seen similar items at museums in Afghanistan and another place and it appears to be religious in nature.
This was the first I had seen as well. I found it cool so pulled the trigger. There were 4 or 5 and this was the nicer one in my opinion.
she said it pertains to a "Victory from God" making more of a weapon of war than a display. The blade is also sharp and has some wear. Very interesting piece to say the least.
