Hajj is the well-known pilgrimage to Mecca by faithful Muslims. In 2019, before covid, attendance was 2.4 million people.
Malaysians, and other people in the general area of Indonesia, often bring Hajj tokens with them on their pilgrimage. These tokens are said to carry prosperity, fortune and good luck for those who possess them.
As you can see, we found a good deal of information about the coin sent to us by Barbara. See our prior newsletter for a full explanation.
Identification - According to the Pekanbaru Tribun, this coin is called uka-uka money, or mystic money. In the West, we would call it a magic coin, charm, token, amulet, or talisman, with full identification as one of these:
Malaysian good luck charm (Yasin) with Zulfiqar
Malaysian or Indonesian Islamic religious Hajj token
About 4 dozen more examples of related tokens appear at Zeno.ru. Our CoinQuest page on them appears here.
With your help, we found a good deal of information about Barbara’s token. Several readers were kind enough to supply important information. Emad’s response was especially helpful:
==== Emad’s response ====
This coin looks not usual at all for several reasons: first, it is meant to be an Islamic coin as on the back name of Prophet Mohammed and the Righteous Caliphs: Abu Baker, Omar, Othman and Ali, also name of Allah is there, and next to the sword, “Zulfiqar” which is the name of the sword gifted by Prophet Mohammed to Ali.
I believe it is written in Arabic letter, however, Islamic coins will not have a person photo as it is forbidden in the Islamic religion.
Therefore, I have strong doubts of this coin authenticity.
Kind Regards
========================
The clincher from Emad is the Zulfiqar (Zulfikar) sword, and a Google search “coin with Zulfiqar” brings lots of relevant results.
The sword on the back of the Malaysian token betrays its modern origin. It looks like a Russian dragoon of 1881AD, rather than Ali’s Zulfiqar of 624AD. More pictures are available at OttomanSwords.com.
Further, the figure on the front of the token is often called a “guard with two spears,” but he is sometimes designated Toyol (or Tuyul), a hideous and wicked infant in Malaysian and Indonesian folk lore.
Date - It is a modern piece. The article in the Pekanbaru Tribun sets the date as 1920, minted in the Johor region at the southern tip of Malaysia. This is consistent with sword-based dating.
Composition - This Malaysian good luck piece is found minted in several base metals, including brass, bronze, nickel, generic “white metal” and rarely, silver. There are hints of certain pieces being minted in gold, although not pure gold. Our initial estimate of 12 karat gold for Barbara’s token may be accurate, which would make her token quite valuable.
In one blog discussing the piece, we found the picture below. Someone clearly polished the token with chemicals to bring out a pure gold look. Is it gold or not? A jeweler should make the determination.
Value - As to value, online advertisements of this token for sale range in price from a few rupees to 1 million rupees (about $12500 US dollars). For base metal tokens, figure a reasonable retail price between $10 and $25.
Thanks, again, for those who helped.