I was given this coin by my grandad years ago as part of a larger collection it has always intrigued me. I will post a picture when I work out how to transfer them from my digital camera to my computer, but in the mean time, it is bronze in colour, apears very old, on one side is what looks like the star of David and on the other is some writing which appears to be arabic in the top half, and then separated from this by a line in the lower half is a date 1288. Also it has markings all around the from inside to out like IIIIII. Any help in it's identification would be appreciated, cheers.
This coin is from Morocco,not Israel,even though it has the Star of David.The date '1288' is AH1288,not AD1288! AH1288 is a date in the Islamic lunar calendar,which is around 621 years behind the Christian calendar dates.It must be remembered that the Islamic lunar year is 11 days shorter,so you must add 3% to make up for it when converting. Aidan.
The "Star of David" is the principal element of >>the "Seal of Sulayman"<< in the Islamic tradition, and frequently used on Morrocon coinage. According to the chart in Krause, AH1288 extended from March 23, 1871 to March 11, 1872, on the western calendar.
If i'm not wrong the "Star of David" has 6 points. The coins I have from Morocco have a star of 5 points.
You're right on both points. The Star of David/Seal of Sulayman does have six points. You obviously don't have any Moroccan coins older than the AH1330-1346 (1912-1927) reign of Yusuf, whose bronze 1 Muzuna (Y#26) was the first use of a five-pointed star on Moroccan coinage. The coins of Abd al-Aziz, who reigned from AH1311-1326 (1894-1908) were the last ones to display the Seal of Sulayman.
Star of david? I am grateful for the replies you have sent me, however being new to the world of coin collecting I am still a bit confused. My coin has six points to its star, it is made of two triangles opposed to eachother with a small circle in the middle. I would be grateful for any further light that can be shed upon its origin.
Based on your description, you have a 19th Century coin, for which Aidan Work's attribution is completely correct. Specifically, it was minted of bronze during the reign of Sidi Mohammed IV, AH1276-1290 (1859-73). If it is approximately 20mm, 2.9g, and has the date between two lines on the reverse,it is 1 Falus, cataloged at $3-40 depending on condition and mint If it is about 22mm, 7g, and has the date below some arabic writing on the reverse, with a design around the Seal of Suyalman, it is 2 Falus, cataloged in the same range if it is 27-29mm, 11.5g with a design similar to the 2 Falus, it is a 4 Falus (c#166), listed at $2-30 ; and if it seems to be a 4 falus, but only weighs about 6g, it is a contemporary forgery, of no value except to collectors of counterfeit coins. Don't be led off the subject of your coin by our discussion of historical Moroccon designs.
Cheers I have more than 70 coins in front of me right now, a lot are foreign currency collected on my great grandfathers travels and are somewhat identifiable however a few of them I have to one side which don't have an obvious story to tell. I am encouraged by the efforts of you all for discussing my original enquiry and have more. I thank you, and will try to offer a picture of my other coins and ask for your help further. Cheers mattshed.
Just before I go how about a coin of a yellowish metal colour can't really beleive it's gold but anyway, it has a head/bust on one side and writing "GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA around the outside. On the other side is a coat of arms in the middle with a crown on top and writing "IN MEMORY OF THE GOOD OLD DAYS" around the outside. On this side below the coat of arms is also a date 1797.
Card counter Does that mean that this coin was used as a token bet for card games at the time?, I bet it has a few stories to tell!
I know I have that "IN MEMORY OF THE GOOD OLD DAYS" counter listed in one of my references somewhere, but it still eludes me after a considerable search. I had stumbled on the listing a year or so ago, and thought that I should note where that was (but didn't) since I have a few of them myself that need properly identified. I remember it was not in a category that I would have looked in, and that evidently is holding true. I believe they are some form of an imitation spade guinea, of which my English counter books mentioned that they did not list them, but did mention that they were likely used with the game of Whist. I checked through 4 counter refs (2 were for English counters) and I did not see it listed, even after flipping thru every page and scanning a lot of descriptions (no indexes). On the upside, I did find listings for those counters that resembled U.S. gold pieces, but had "GERMANY" by the Indian head (in the December, 1972 TAMS Journal). Someone had asked about them earlier this year. Now, where was that thread?
Cheers for looking I have been away from the internet for a while still having a problem transfering photo's from my camera obviously a picture paints a thousand words, again thanks for the help. My part of the world is lovely at all times of the year especially in a warm pub with a good pint. (Half full or half empty it's always better full and it's never big enough) It's good to learn about these coins I have, and wonder at how many pockets they have rattled around in. Hope you are all well, I need information! Unfortunately I can't offer advice to others on coins as I am very much a novice.
THANK YOU SO MUCH. I just looked up G**gle for 1288 coin because my dad had this one for probably 50 years of his life. In the 90s when he was older for some reason he put it in tin foil and carried it in his pocket. He never did that before. I think my mom probably found it and didn't know what the tinfoil was and threw it out. My dad always said I could have this coin when he died, but of course, now never got it.
