Mysterious small silver coin ID help Plz?

Benjamin52 · Jul 19, 2016

Hey everyone,
I went detecting in the woods close to a medieval monestery ruin here in Germany today.
I found this small (aprox 1.5cm) silver "coin"?
It has what looks like an arabic castle with an arc of dots above it on one side and a strange picture on the other with little dots going around too. It looks like it has seen some abuse and might have either been bigger or hammered imprecisely.
Any ID would be appreciated!
Any ideas how to clean it without ruining it?
Thanks for looking!

Some new pics

Gridwalker306 · Jul 19, 2016

I have no idea about an ID, but it looks old and very cool. Nice find

david680 · Jul 19, 2016

I can't help much, and I get what you mean by "Arabic castle" but I'm really doubting that it is Arabian. The details of the coin seem to be much finer than I normally see in Arabic coins, and more reliant on imagery. But I can't deny that the castle looks like it. Anyway, I can't be much help, and may be 100% wrong. It's a nice find.

Benjamin52 · Jul 19, 2016

david680 said:
I can't help much, and I get what you mean by "Arabic castle" but I'm really doubting that it is Arabian. The details of the coin seem to be much finer than I normally see in Arabic coins, and more reliant on imagery. But I can't deny that the castle looks like it. Anyway, I can't be much help, and may be 100% wrong. It's a nice find.

Yes, I think you are right, the arabic coins I have seen look like they use letters in a way to create images rather than using images directly...

trapperart · Jul 19, 2016

No help with ID but congrats on a nice find, looking forward to see what it turns out to be

Scrappy · Jul 19, 2016

Not sure about that one. It almost looks cast from the pics. Can you take some in better light? Perhaps it's the filtering you used for clearer images. Something may (or may not) be off but I'll let the experts chime in.

I hope I'm wrong and it's something awesome!

Dust Eater · Jul 19, 2016

The front looks more like a cathedral to me than it does a mosque, but what do I know.

Westfront · Jul 19, 2016

Very nice, whatever it is. Looks like a coin. High(er) grade silver also. I was thinking Serbia but can't find a match. Maybe Mackaydon will chime in. :dontknow:

Tuberale · Jul 19, 2016

Nice coin! I'd suggest posting it in the Coins Forum, just to see if anyone's watching over there.

Rustic · Jul 19, 2016

That's an intriguing find. Please be sure to update us when you get an ID. Can't wait to hear what it is. Nice find! :occasion14:

vince76 · Jul 19, 2016

I have seen byzantine coins with the M on them so it can be a byzantine one

lazabert · Jul 19, 2016

ya looks nice need a better lit photo ,, can't wait to see the info ...

Benjamin52 · Jul 20, 2016

Mackaydon said:
I believe we've seen a similar one before--and called it a gaming token or souvenir.
Don....

So you believe it is a token or the fact that there are 2 similar ones now would indicate they are a type of coin?

JamieD · Jul 20, 2016

I think it might be an early medieval German silver penny.
The following is close but not quite there - your figure has a spear with flag rather than a crozier (king or prince rather than bishop?) and the church is in a different style but I think it must be in about the right date & area.

https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=1242&lot=2173

Jamie

Back-of-the-boat · Jul 20, 2016

Couldn't those be the onion dome buildings in St.Petersburg Russia, so maybe a Russian coin.

Benjamin52 · Jul 20, 2016

JamieD said:
I think it might be an early medieval German silver penny.
The following is close but not quite there - your figure has a spear with flag rather than a crozier (king or prince rather than bishop?) and the church is in a different style but I think it must be in about the right date & area.

https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=1242&lot=2173

Jamie

Thanks Jamie!
It does look similar, especially the brim around it with the cross-like symbols going around the edge looks very similar!

against the wind · Jul 20, 2016

Excellent find, I don't think they made too many tokens out of silver. Are sure that coin is silver?
Congrats

Benjamin52 · Jul 20, 2016

I´ve found silver coins before and seen many too, by the way it looks, cleans out and the patina formation I am 99% sure it´s silver...

JamieD · Jul 20, 2016

The cross like symbols around the edge are letters and if you could see them all you should be able to figure out where it was struck and for who but unfortunately there are a lot missing due to an off-centre strike.

Bramblefind · Jul 20, 2016

I agree with JamieD on medieval German penny - here is a good resource for coins of Cologne and there is one very much like it on page 51.

http://www.numismatas.com/Forum/Pdf/David Ruckser/Coins of Cologne.pdf