Weirdo Barbarian? Coin To Identify

@vstefanyuk, my initial thought was that this looked vaguely Aksumite, but there are several problems with this:

1. No match in my Munro-Hay. There are some with a portrait on either side, but none have that anchor-thing in front like your first picture shows.
2. Copper Aksum coins used Ge'ez script whereas your coin has Latin letters.

Since you purchased this from a known peddler of forgeries, is it possible that this is just a fantasy?

The design looks a bit like some Merovingian coins, and there are examples with a similar form of cross in front of the face.

However, I have not seen any Merovingians with portraits on both sides. There is usually a non-figurative design, sometimes an animal, on the other side. Also, although Merovingians can have rather well-formed letters in some cases, the inscription here is unexpectedly neat and regular.

Another group of coins with rustic portraits is Anglo-Saxon sceattas, but the portraits have a somewhat different style and inscriptions are rare - so less likely.

Even though I don't see a direct match with any Merovingian, that possibility shouldn't be ruled out - the style of those span over a wide range and I would think there are many non-cataloged examples. If you want to explore this possibility further, there are ancient but perfectly useable works online, like Prou's Les Monnaies Merovingiennes: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/b...990533.image

But, one should also not rule out the possibility that this is a product of the Fantasy Mint.

Btw, found some coin with portraits on both sides (maybe there are more):




Another thought, I do see there also some little silver shining. So, it could be also that it was silvered coin.

Nobody is perfect. Even the most notorious fakesters may be fooled on occasion by a genuine coin, right?