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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Gavin Richardson, post: 3229803, member: 83956&quot;]Victor Clark helped out with the identification of this item. Its motifs resemble a fantasy coin allegedly made by “gypsies” in the late 19th or early 20th centuries. (The term “gypsy” is offensive in some circles today; the preferred term is “Romani.”) This link &lt;&lt; <a href="https://en.numista.com/forum/topic57315.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.numista.com/forum/topic57315.html" rel="nofollow">https://en.numista.com/forum/topic57315.html</a> &gt;&gt; contains a photo and the following discussion:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]843138[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>“The coin was made by gypsies during the period 1895-1905. With a great story that they had come up with they started spreading the word that an ancient coin exists of king βασιλιά Σελβύρου [Vasyly Selvrou] as seen on one side of the coin, and the other showed a pig with its babies, I will try to find the image of the back side. They were sold to naive victims who had heard of the story and thought that they were buying the real thing. They were usually made of brass and any cheap metal they had, they were not roma that made them but gypsies. At that period gypsies were usually the blacksmiths that made them. They came in different styles and sizes and of course have no value. The king they use Βασιλεως Σελβυρου is a misprint of Βασιλεως Σελευκου [Vasyleo Seleukou], they change the last three letters ΠΘΥ to ΚΟΥ. As said they come in many variations, and usually the variation has to do with how many baby pigs they could fit on the coin they made!! And in very rare ones they you can see an image of a pig shepherd.”</p><p><br /></p><p>Victor suggested that in the king’s depiction there may be some resemblance to rulers on Aksumite coins, but the Romani connection seems dispositive.</p><p><br /></p><p>So this paperweight or weight is probably of Romani origin, with some kind of fantasy allusion to a Seleucid King. It’s probably a product of the (early?) twentieth century. Its value seems mainly as a conversation piece. It is not ancient.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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