Unknown Coins

Hi - These are not coins per se - but temple tokens. Usually found in "white metal" or brass but in rare occasions, silver.

The script on these looks like Indian. The date below the sitting guy looks like 1274, which is probably AH. In our Calendar its 1857 if I am correct.

You can find examples of various kinds of these "temple tokens" here on zeno.ru. Their usage depends to a large extent on which religion they are intended for, though for the most part they are sold as "religious souvenirs" at mosques, temples, shrines and other religious sites. You can also find lots of examples by doing a search here on CCF for the phrase "temple token".

The Hindu ones, often called "ramatankas" because they resemble coins (tankas) that honour the god Rama, are often used as household relics. See here for an article explaining their use.

Muslim ones are often taken on the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca; similar tokens originating from the Muslim regions of Southeast Asia also exist, though are usually quite distinctive in design.


I read the numerals as "1804"; the usual pre-European calendar used by Hindus in northern India (where temple token usage is most common) was the Vikrama Samvat calendar, in which "1804" would convert to 1747 AD. Unfortunately, the "dates" found on temple tokens cannot be reliably used, since most modern tokens bear false dates on them.