Coin Or Commemorative ?

It is, indeed, an "Indian temple token".

India has a long tradition of producing coin-like medallions for religious purposes, and every religion in India makes them. The two most commonly seen classes are "Islamic" and "Hindu". This one is Islamic. Note that while the Islamic faith does not actually have "temples", the tokens are still called "temple tokens", mainly for historic reasons. Historically such tokens were made from precious metals (usually silver) but most 20th century tokens are made from silver-coloured base metal or silver-washed brass.

On the writing-only side of your token, we have a coin-like design, in the sense that this same text often appears on Islamic coins. Inside the square is the Kalima, the Islamic confessional statement of faith ("there is no god but Allah, Mohammad is Allah's prophet). Outside the square are the names of the First Four Caliphs, whom all Muslims approve of and follow the teachings of (It is from the fifth Caliph onwards that opinions of their worthiness differ and we start to see the sectarian divisions arise within Islam which persist to this day). Thus, this side of the coin depicts things that every single Muslim would believe and agree with, whether they be Sunni, Shia, or some other sect.

On the other side we have a depiction of the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina, Saudi Arabia - one of the holiest sites in Islam and a key pilgrimage destination for those undertaking the Hajj to Mecca. The Green Dome in the middle is depicted as it used to look prior to the restoration in the mid-1800s, rather than how it actually looks today, so it's intended as more of a symbolic depiction rather than a picture-postcard image.

So, what are these temple tokens used for? While adherents of each religion make and use them, each religion seems to use them slightly differently. Hindu tokens, with their depictions of Hindu deities, are used in household rituals for "feeding the gods". Islamic tokens have some focus for the Hajj, as the imagery on them implies - they are either given to people before they leave for the Hajj, to carry with them as a reminder of their mission and purpose, or they are given upon their return as kind of a "proof of pilgrimage" badge. Of course, since these tokens can be openly bought and sold on the streets of India, by anybody, owning one isn't necessarily proof of being a Muslim or having undertaken the Hajj, though only a Muslim is likely to want to get caught carrying one around. In practice, they seem to function as "good luck tokens", though of course Muslims would denounce the concept of "luck".

It would seem that different Sunni mosques read the names of the caliphs counterclockwise and others top to bottom, left to right. Is there some significance that can be attached to that? Or is the order with which to read the names something that may have changed over the years at the same mosque, so that in 1840 names might have been read counterclockwise but by 1940 they could have been read top to bottom...? I cannot image that there would have been anything arbitrary about the way these tokens were produced.

BTW: one of my first posts was of a communion token I had come across as I started to sort through uncatalogued, odds and ends items in the aforementioned collection, which of course served its own unique purpose. Thanks again!

My grandfather had a stamp/coin shop in Westchester County, NY in the 1960s. I have recently been tasked with sorting through what remains of his stock/collection. I started with the stamps and am now on to the coins, beginning with loose items that either he never put away in a 2 x 2 or fell out of their packaging over the years. He has been gone since 1972.