I got this around 1998 for silver weight or thereabouts. Obviously, it's been defaced. Someone put a hole in it to make a key fob, I think. Date looks like 17x9. Weight is about 27.5 g with the key ring. Could this be a cob? Does it match any authentic designs? I got it from a legitimate coin store (now long gone) that I had good experiences with. Any help with its identification would be much appreciated!
It looks like a Guatemala cob that has been around the block innumerable times. The hole was probably there for a considerable amount of time. Many of the indigenous people in the region lacked pockets, so the coins were holed to accommodate being held on a string. This was a very wide spread practice. Later, someone inserted a ring into the hole. I'm pretty sure the coin is genuine. The date appears to be 1739.