Completely clueless about this one ancient?... Help please!

I got this item at a coin show for about $3 due to its corrosion, but both the seller and I were puzzled about it. It is about the same size of a US dollar and it seems to be made of copper. It looks Asian of course...
Any clues?

Danke Schoen!

 

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It is an Islamic bronze dirhem of the Zengids of Mosul. See here:
http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=91608

 

Many thanks!!! Wow, after seeing the price, it seems that I got me a good deal regardless of the corroded parts.

 

Prices for these are highly dependent on grade. A high grade specimen, with good surfaces such as the one in the link, will always bring much more money than a corroded and harshly cleaned one like yours. Nevertheless, yours is probably worth $50-75.

 

True... To be honest, I don't mind much the price. In 15 years of collecting, I had never seen a coin liked this and I love the fact that it is more than 800 years old.

 

Check out the next post

 

• 
  
  Inherited coin 800 years old
  
  Edge letter orientation explained
  By Erik Martin | June 05, 2011 10:00 a.m.
  Article first published in 2011-06-13, Expert Advice section of Coin World
  Enlarge this image It is extremely likely that a coin inherited through an estate is a copper coin from the Islamic dynasty of the Artuqids, which dates back 800 years.
  Images courtesy of Keri Engelhaupt.
  
  I was left this coin as part of an estate from a great uncle. Where is the coin from and what is its approximate age?
  Keri Engelhaupt
  Ashland, Neb.
  David Vagi, director of ancients at Numismatic Guaranty Corp. and who writes the “Ancients Today” column for Coin World Special Edition, examined the coin images Ms. Engelhaupt submitted.
  Vagi says, “The Kufic inscriptions are not complete on the coin, so no 100 percent guarantee, but a 98 percent guarantee that it is a copper piece of Nasir al-Din Artuq Arslan, of the Artuqids of Mardin, who ruled A.D. 1200/1201 to 1239.
  “It should weigh about 6 grams (the range is from about 3.75 to 9.00 grams), which has caused some specialists to consider it a half denomination of the typical Artuqid copper ‘dirham’ unit. [Judging] from the photo there is an excellent chance it is genuine; if so, it is certainly worth [an amount] in the $150 to $300 range.”
  The Artuqids were an Islamic dynasty that ruled an area encompassing parts of present-day Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
  I have been collecting Presidential and Sacagawea dollars. Can you please tell me how these coins are classified as position A and position B? It seems that no one can agree as to what is what.
  Gary White
  Address withheld
  Regarding incused edge inscriptions on the circulating Presidential dollar coins and the Sacagawea, Native American dollars, Professional Coin Grading Service characterizes a “Position A” dollar coin as one on which the edge lettering is upside down when the obverse of the coin (portrait side) is facing up. If the edge lettering reads normally with the obverse of the coin facing up, PCGS calls this “Position B.”
  Third-party grading services Numismatic Guaranty Corp. and ANACS do not make the “A” and “B” designation on their slab labels when grading and encapsulating the dollar coins.
  The market assigns no value premium for a Position A dollar versus a Position B dollar, or vice versa. The edge inscription for circulation-strike dollars is applied completely at random by the Mint.
  On Proof dollars the edge inscription is formed by a different process in Position B orientation.
  The incused edge inscription has been used on Presidential dollars since first being issued in 2007. The edge inscription was added to the Sacagawea, Native American dollars beginning in 2009. The Sacagawea dollars of 2000 to 2008 do not feature edge devices.
  Coin World's Readers Ask department does not accept coins or other items for examination without prior permission from staff member Erik Martin. Readers Ask also does not examine error or variety coins. Materials sent to Readers Ask without prior permission will be returned unexamined. Please address all Readers Ask inquiries to emartin@coinworld.com or call (800) 673-8311, Ext. 274.
  
  
  
  
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Thank you!!!