Hello, I'm new to this forum. I recently purchased a box of old coins and I'm having trouble identifying this one. I was curious what it might be worth and what date ranges it was produced. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Looks like a token to me, very nice! There were many of these done in middle eastern areas, you can see them on ebay from time to time. Most of the ones I've come across were from India. Yours looks Egyptian, thumbs up!
Actually I think it IS a counterfeit, misshapen rim and the reeds (of the edge) look like they've been hand made.
Egyptian Token or Coin? Hello, I live in Saint Louis, Missouri and I found my token/coin in 2000 while digging a flower bed in my front yard. We had just bought our home which was built in 1897. When I first found it it was covered in dirt and I tossed it aside thinking it was just a metal die cut out....but my inner instincts told me to take a second look. I have always been a hunter of arrowheads and anything that I can find. So I took it inside and to my amazement I saw the image appear. Since then I have been searching off and on looking online to see what it was. I assumed that it was a token from the 1904 Saint Louis Worlds Fair but had yet to find a token from the fair that is a match. Then tonight I decided to look up 'Egyptian Coin' and I came across your coin. Mine of course is not in as good a condition as yours is due to it being buried for so long. But I was excited to finally find someone with the same token/coin. It would be nice to be able to place its origins and to determine whether it is a coin or a token from the fair. I agree that these were hand-made. I can see differences in the facial features; the eyebrows, the eyes and ears are different. The head dress is a different shape and the design of the garment that the person is wearing...same on the other side...I see some slight differences in shape of head.
The Egyptian Magic Coin is back! I have seen versions of this item for years on Internet coin and metal detecting boards, on Ebay, at coin shows, and even in the movies. They have been around since at least 1905, when a listing for one appeared in the 1905 Sears & Roebuck mail-order catalog. I posted an article about these items in August 2011: http://www.cointalk.com/t191225 I also have a section of my website (below) devoted to these items.
Just so everyone knows, the ancient egyptians only ever made one coin, a gold coin of the last Pharaoh. Ancient egyptians, even though they had access to coins late in their reigns, simply treated them as bullion. The Persians, Alexander, Ptolemies, and later Rome all struck coins in modern day Egypt, but what we think of as ancient Egypt never did save that one coin. I simply mention this because sometimes people see objects like this and think King Tut or someone similar struck coins. Chris
Thank you Willieboyd2 for posting your information about the tokens. I never thought that they were actual Egyptian coins. I thought that they were from the 1904 St. Louis Worlds Fair. To find that they were actually from Sears was a surprise indeed. Very interesting history.
Jennifer Jones says: I'm wearing my Egyptian Magic Coin and I feel BAD today. From "Duel in the Sun" (1946)
