world coins

[Guest brownowl]

I know, this is the BRITISH coin discussion forum! Very cheeky of me to slip in questions about world coins, but hey, the man said "free-for-all"! I have a small, interesting coin with Hebrew writing on it, which I imagine is just the Israeli version of a penny. I'd really like to find out more about the coin; how to read the date, for example, as there are no Arabic numerals on it. Any ideas on websites I could visit to get some help identifying an Israeli coin? Thank you!

[Chris Perkins]

Coins with arabic (or non Western of any kind) writing on sometimes prove very difficult to identify, let alone date and grade.

You assume it's hebrew, possibly israeli. It could also be from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, even India, Pakistan, Egypt, Ethiopia or any number of countries that write in what to a Western eye looks just like squiggles! Things have got easier though, it seems many countries at least have dates in Christian format.

As far as i'm aware there could not possibly be a website in existance covering every possible middle eastern country's mint marks from the last 200 years or more. if you register as a Forum member you will have the ability to upload a picture of the coin. With a little help from a couple of books I have I may be able to identify it for you.

Thanks Brownowl

[Guest brownowl]

Thanks for the tip, Chris! I'll register today. I am certain that the writing is Hebrew, as I once took a course in (don't laugh) conversational Hebrew back in uni. My reading is not what it used to be, but I have identified the Hebrew equivalent of the English letters "sh" "k" and "l" on the coin, so my guess is that it says shekel. Well, you can see for yourself once I register and figure out how to use our scanner!