Need ID help with this very strange colonial coin or token, or whatever??

[Bill D. (VA)]

A friend asked me to help him with this, and I don't have a clue. It was recently found while he was hunting a colonial site. In addition to some strange markings, its very thick (about the same as 2 quarters). It seems too thick to be a coin, but maybe its some sort of token?? Hopefully someone has seen this before and can help with the ID. Thanks in advance ..... Bill

 

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[Ahab8]

Oh man that would be killing me to not know what that is. Looks very interesting indeed and there's really enough detail to think it could be id'd. Wish I was more help with this stuff but I'm still learning :-)

 

[Cross Potent]

Coin weight?

 

[grillz]

Biil D:
The 'coin' you show may be from the East India Company, Porticullis Series. They're known as a "Testern". These were minted around 1600. (These coins run from a few hundred dollars on up).

But the 'coin' also struck me as being similar to the flag of Maryland because of the checkerboards. I cannot find any info
regarding the first Lord Baltimore, George Calvert, but this may be his Coat of Arms.

Both of these bits of info fall into the same time period.

My info for the coin can be found in "The Standard Catalog of World Coins" 17th Century edition 1601-1700. You'll find the info under Great Briton. Isbn#: 978-0873-4127-11.

Have the coin professionally cleaned by one of the coin grading services. It'll be worth the cost. Good luck.

 

[pepperj]

The testern coinage seem to have a shield on the one side, at least the 2 does and the 4 is out of silver.
http://museumvictoria.com.au/collec...-2-testerns-portcullis-money-bantam-java-1601

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Thank both of you for your reply, and great job on the ID. I checked my Krause book for 17th century coins and found the testerns. This one is a close match, but not exact for the 1 testern denomination. Plus the book shows that all of them were silver. Is that correct, and if so, could this be a fake? I also saw where the testerns were quite thin, and this one certainly isn't.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Correct coin ID from Mackaydon on the other post.

Congrats on this 1600s copper!