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 Replies: 8 / Views: 1,192 |
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Valued Member
United States
72 Posts |
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Moderator
 United States
34437 Posts |
@enzeno, the back side of this piece is also devoid of markings, right? If so, it isn't really a "coin". The piercings might have been made in this piece to facilitate its use in jewelry, but that is just a guess. I can't see how it is worth more than melt.
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
What's the weight?
The fabric would seem to suggest medieval Arabic or European, but I have never seen one worn completely smooth. There were no blank coins from that time, and I have never seen or heard of an un-struck gold flan from that time.
It is a curious piece, but worth no more than melt.
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Valued Member
 United States
72 Posts |
Thanks for the responses so quickly! Yes the pictures actually show the front and the back. First 2 are the front, last 2 or the back (or vice versa!) So both sides are blank.
The weight of the coin is 8.8 grams.
I agree that I don't believe its a coin but just wanted to throw it out there.
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
If it was a coin it has been hammered flat, the three holes suggest it hung from something.
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Moderator
Australia
16868 Posts |
The holes suggest to me that it is a made-for-jewellery piece. Presumably part of a much larger piece of jewellery, such as a middle-eastern woman's headpiece. Such objects are traditionally made using coins, but when genuine gold coins are not cheap nor easily available, substitutes such as this are made.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
Belgium
1194 Posts |
I think Sap is right. It remenber me the pieces of jewellery in use in the Arab world,made with coins since centuries . albert
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
My initial thought was belly dancer coin, but those are A) Usually made of brass, B) Usually modeled after Ottoman coins, and C) Paper thin so they aren't heavy.
8.8 grams of 22k gold (according to the calculator I used) is worth upwards of $300 melt. It would have to be a centerpiece (unless it was originally part of something more elaborate and VERY heavy), but it doesn't look like a centerpiece.
Maybe it really is just a hammered piece of gold made to be hidden, e.g. stitched into the seam of a piece of clothing? If you were a goldsmith, it probably would have been possible to steal a little bit of gold from each project, and create a few pieces like this as an emergency fund.
I could be way off, but it's fun to speculate!
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Valued Member
United States
72 Posts |
Thank you everyone for your responses. I think that the final assumption is that it is possible that it was once a coin, but can no longer be identified as such, and thus now just gold. I am going to try to get the exact purity of it and post it back here if I can. Thanks again, this is one of the most helpful communities I am part of.
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Replies: 8 / Views: 1,192 |
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Posted 08/16/2018 4:12 pm
