Among the hardest coins to identify are those with Arabic writing. Despite the fact that both Chinese and Arabic flow in a right-left direction, Arabic is still hardest because at least I know a little Chinese- enough to decode certain coins usually without the aid of my non-western date cheat-sheet. This is fueling my desire to learn the language- that and a really awesome job.
The hardest to date are Israeli coins. I’m still not 100% sure exactly how the dates work, but it’s something along the lines of dividing the current year into several categories- millennium, century, decade and tenths of a decade. It is quite interesting how the Hebrew dates are arranged, but it is also quite perplexing. I’m close to figuring out an easier method of dating.
Arabic dates are far easier, because like western dates, there are four numerals and it is simply a matter of converting the numerals to their Latin equivalent and then adding 1400 to result in the corresponding Gregorian date. Thai dating is becoming easier since I have had so much practice with nearly 100 examples of 1 baht coins to catalog- it is almost to the point where I can go without the cheat sheet.
Most of the countries on the Arabian peninsula repeat their name in western style, like Kuwait, Bahrain, U.A.E. and Yemen. Interestingly, Saudi Arabia does not practice this, but luckily, their coat of arms is quite recognizable- palm tree above two crossed swords. The subunit of the Saudi Riyal is unforgettable- halala.
Usually a coin has at least a contextual clue to identify its origins- coat of arms, portrait, landmark or something similarly easy to cross-reference. In the case of Bangladeshi coins, I recognized the coat of arms and I remembered that it was green. There is another set of coins I’m attempting to identify whose coat of arms contain a five-pointed star, which I remember as having the red & green colors of Christmas. I think those might be Moroccan.
By accident, I discovered that 8 coins in my ‘can’t identify’ pile were actually Pakistani 1 rupee coins. Based on the reverse design of a mosque, I may be able to associate two more coins with Pakistan.
There is a set of four coins that are driving me particularly crazy. There is only a lion’s head with some very unusual writing on one side, with the Latin numeral denomination and scenes reminiscent of communist ideology on the reverse.
There are a total of 15 coins in my pile that have no clues and no other way to identify them. Even the coins with the lion might prove easier than these.
Price of silver: $25.96/oz.
