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Coin and Paper Money Collecting/Arab coin
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Mr. Livshits,
)
Attached is the photo of a coin that belonged to my grandparents. It is loosely embedded in a piece of porous rock. The other side does not appear to be damaged, but I hesitate to remove the rock until I know more about why it might have been "mounted" in this fashion. I appreciate any information you can provide on the age, history, and value of this coin. Thank you.
Hi Ann,
This is one of the more interesting items I've seen in a while.
You have a 2 kharub coin from Tunisia, with Islamic date AH1281 (1864 AD). The unusual part is that it's obviously been recovered from the sea floor, likely placed there as a result of a shipwreck. Being a copper coin it fared pretty well at the bottom of the sea, the surface appears stained but not corroded.
Value is somewhat hard to place because it's such an unusual item. I am pretty confident it is not from an important wreck, since the large and important ships carried silver and gold bullion rather than copper coins. It may be possible to trace what ship it came from, but that would be a very long and tedious process.
The coin by itself, in that condition, would sell for around $10. As the complete package it's something that the majority of collectors have not seen before. I would confidently put an auction value of $30 to $50 and a retail value of up to $100 (if sold in a good coin shop).
An interesting point: If you remove the coin from the sea rock the value will drop back down to $10 or so, regardless of the shipwreck association. There are literally oodles of sea salvaged coins on the market, but relatively few in their original, uncleaned "clump" form.
Thanks for the question! =)
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| Comment | I would like to thank Mr. Livshits for his prompt (same day!) and knowledgeable response. The information provided was clear, complete, interesting, and his reply was written in a cordial and personable manner. I could not have asked for more. It is very kind of Mr. Livshits to share his expertise in this way. | ||
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Answers by Expert:
Dmitry Livshits
Expertise
My specialty is world coins from the 18th to 20th centuries, primarily non-US foreign coins and related areas such as errors and exonumia (tokens, medals, etc.). I can answer questions relating to identification, grading, selling, preservation and evaluation of such items. In addition to catalog value, I can give you the practical market value and trends for specific types of coins. I will also take questions regarding counterfeits (both modern and antique) and on how to identify them. I am NOT knowledgeable in paper money/banknotes, ancient or "shipwreck" coins. Thank you.
Experience
Collector of world coins since early childhood. Access to a variety of auction records and reference material. You can also find me on Facebook.
Education/Credentials
A.S. in Psychology (2006), B.A. in Forensic Psychology (2008), M.A. in Forensic Psychology (2011).
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