) to make me curious.
Posted 04/27/2014 5:36 pm
What I have found on this 'temple' token:
Obverse Kalima in square- Rashidun around•
reverse: cursive drawing of the Prophet's mosque in Madina- "Madina shareef" underneath
It isn't a "coin". It is a class of object known in the West as an "Indian temple token", though most of us know by now that Muslims don't have "temples" and this one is clearly Islamic.
They are part of a long tradition in South Asia of making religious amulets. In the Islamic tradition, they are apparently given as gifts to those going on the Hajj to Mecca, as a reminder of the reasons for and destination of their journey. The obverse, based loosely on Indian silver coinage of the Mughal period, names Mohammed in the centre and the Four Caliphs around. The reverse depicts a stylized mosque, presumably a representation of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Do a forum search for "Islamic temple token" and you'll find quite a few old threads with items very similar to yours, such as this one.
Early Hajj Pilgrim tokens (from the pre-WWII period) are made of silver; the mass-produced modern ones are made of cupronickel or silver-washed brass. Unless you've got a provenance for it going back many decades, I would assume it was a base-metal version until and unless it were proved otherwise.
It's not an actual coin. It's a class of object known as an "Indian temple token", a name applied to these items by Western collectors and somewhat of a misnomer in this case as it's Islamic, and Muslims have "mosques", not "temples". The dome-and-colonnade design is a common motif on temple tokens but was not used on any genuine Indian coin. The script on the obverse is the Islamic kalima (statement of faith) in the centre, with the names of the First Four Caliphs in the quadrants around the rim. See this zeno.ru page for examples of these and other Islamic "temple tokens".
It's my understanding that these tokens are given to Muslims embarking on the pilgrimage to Mecca, serving several functions: as a kind of "good luck charm", as a reminder of their reason for making the journey, and as an "ID tag" to prove, to anyone else who asks, that they are a pilgrim.
As for value, I wouldn't expect much. They are still being made and used in India and Pakistan, and they're almost certainly not made of actual silver. From a coin dealer that actually knows what they are, they should cost $5 to $10 at most.
In addition to Sap's spot-on assessment - this particular one is a generic type: most likely made after the 1920's, which seems to be the cut-off point between serious collectible pieces and common ones. After that point these began being sold as souvenirs to tourists and became crudely mass-produced. I suspect yours may be such a souvenir. The tokens used for actual temples typically have a reference to the temple or leader and often a "proclamation" type date.
I have sold quite a few different types of these on ebay, and as far as auction prices are concerned $5 what I would expect for one like this. A retail price in a coin shop could be much higher, of course, though it will likely not sell for a long time.
Obverse Kalima in square- Rashidun around•
reverse: cursive drawing of the Prophet's mosque in Madina- "Madina shareef" underneath
It isn't a "coin". It is a class of object known in the West as an "Indian temple token", though most of us know by now that Muslims don't have "temples" and this one is clearly Islamic.
They are part of a long tradition in South Asia of making religious amulets. In the Islamic tradition, they are apparently given as gifts to those going on the Hajj to Mecca, as a reminder of the reasons for and destination of their journey. The obverse, based loosely on Indian silver coinage of the Mughal period, names Mohammed in the centre and the Four Caliphs around. The reverse depicts a stylized mosque, presumably a representation of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Do a forum search for "Islamic temple token" and you'll find quite a few old threads with items very similar to yours, such as this one.
Early Hajj Pilgrim tokens (from the pre-WWII period) are made of silver; the mass-produced modern ones are made of cupronickel or silver-washed brass. Unless you've got a provenance for it going back many decades, I would assume it was a base-metal version until and unless it were proved otherwise.
It's not an actual coin. It's a class of object known as an "Indian temple token", a name applied to these items by Western collectors and somewhat of a misnomer in this case as it's Islamic, and Muslims have "mosques", not "temples". The dome-and-colonnade design is a common motif on temple tokens but was not used on any genuine Indian coin. The script on the obverse is the Islamic kalima (statement of faith) in the centre, with the names of the First Four Caliphs in the quadrants around the rim. See this zeno.ru page for examples of these and other Islamic "temple tokens".
It's my understanding that these tokens are given to Muslims embarking on the pilgrimage to Mecca, serving several functions: as a kind of "good luck charm", as a reminder of their reason for making the journey, and as an "ID tag" to prove, to anyone else who asks, that they are a pilgrim.
As for value, I wouldn't expect much. They are still being made and used in India and Pakistan, and they're almost certainly not made of actual silver. From a coin dealer that actually knows what they are, they should cost $5 to $10 at most.
In addition to Sap's spot-on assessment - this particular one is a generic type: most likely made after the 1920's, which seems to be the cut-off point between serious collectible pieces and common ones. After that point these began being sold as souvenirs to tourists and became crudely mass-produced. I suspect yours may be such a souvenir. The tokens used for actual temples typically have a reference to the temple or leader and often a "proclamation" type date.
I have sold quite a few different types of these on ebay, and as far as auction prices are concerned $5 what I would expect for one like this. A retail price in a coin shop could be much higher, of course, though it will likely not sell for a long time.
