Help with this coin please :-)

[Bonsai426]

Any ideas?

2.5cm
Not magnetic

Head is worn but can see 'Carlos I'


Thank You!

[Bonsai426]

Sorry for short post, was struggling to post picture 

I found it in a tin of coins that belonged to my Gramps,

I can not find it anywhere and Coinquest sent me to you guys, I appreciate any help you can give me

Xx

[THCoins]

Hello Bonsai, welcome to WoC !

Your coin seems to be inspired by a coin of Carolus V as king of Naples, look here.
But the style of the coin and the shape of the rim make me almost sure this is a modern reproduction.

Anthony

[Bonsai426]

Thank you for your quick reply!

I've posted a picture of the front of the coin.

What checks can you do to see if it is a reproduction?

Thank you for your help :-)

[Figleaf]

The coin TH linked to is 14.6 grams. What is the weight of your coin?

Peter

[FosseWay]

It's not always possible to tell from a photo, but the metal looks too dull and not yellowish enough for silver.

[Bonsai426]

Well, my coin weighs a whopping 2g! Haha!

Maybe I should have weighed it first :-S

I was just very confused by this as I couldn't see anything at all that looked like it, I do feel silly now, it looked like it could be something real, especially because the head looked so worn, I wish I could have asked my Gramps where he got it!

[Figleaf]

No need to feel silly, but there is a need to learn: weight and diameter are important. My guess is the metal is aluminium, not silver. There may be a clue as to how your grandpa got it near the chin of the chimpanzee, four letters, it seems, but I cannot read them.

It may well have been a promotional item, such as petrol companies use to induce commercial loyalty into customers. Since the coin is relatively obscure, it may be part of a series. If so, our member malj1 may know more. You may want to contact him by PM. Your piece is so banged up that I suspect your grandfather carried it around as a lucky piece.

Peter

[malj1]

It appears to be using the Coat of Arms of Charles V Holy Roman Emperor / Charles I as King of Spain



This agrees with what appears to be the date at right of the chimp 1538 However Aluminium first became into general use around 1900.

This raises the suggestion that Carlos 1 was an ape! but I don't know his history.

Could the ape be wearing a Conquistador helmet I wonder? its not clear enough to be sure    ...Cortés 

See this thread re Wizard comics perhaps of this vintage.

[Bonsai426]

Thank you all for your help, it's great to have a coin/token that's stumping you  Haha!

I'm confused by you saying 'chimp' is that a coin-expert expression or actually a chimp? Sorry for being simple but I'm very new to this,

Also is it not odd that the date is to the right of the head as all other coins I've seen have the date on the bottom.

I've been looking all around google today and I'm finding it frustrating that I can not find a single thing that looks anything like this, you guys must have patience!

[FosseWay]

I hadn't particularly noticed it before, and it's hard to be 100% sure because of the wear, but now it's pointed out, the jaw of the head is decidedly chimp-like. The references to chimps were in any case literal - not a generic term for whoever happens to have their head on a coin 

People have made political statements in the past by making evasive copies of real coins and replacing a hated ruler's face with that of an ape, a pig or whatever. One that comes to mind is the series of To Hanover tokens, produced to celebrate the departure of the disliked Duke of Cumberland to become king of Hanover, some of which show him with a monkey face.

In this case it's less clear what the political statement would be, given the c.400 years between Charles (and whatever evil doings might have earnt him an ape face) and the token. Some form of joke perhaps, or simply a way of stating that this piece is a copy/evasion/thing rather than an actual coin from the 16th century.

[Bonsai426]

Sorry for delayed reply, was away over the weekend.

It's funny how people see things differently, when I look at the worn head side of the coin I see a helmet of some sort, I showed my Father in Law and he said it looked like a hamlet (before I said what I thought)

The fact of people making coins with chimp or pigs heads was very interesting, I never knew that and find it fascinating that people would spend time to do that! Haha!

Thank You all for your input, maybe one day I will find out exactly what it is and where it came from

[malj1]

Here is a web page describing the various Napoleon coins such as this Pigs head for instance, this will give some idea of what we are talking of.

Anti-Napoleonic satirical coinage after Sedan

[malj1]

Charles V depicted on a gold coin. (Carlos I, Carlos V or 'Carlos I de España), 1500 – 1558) ruler of the Holy Roman Empire

[constanius]

It's funny how people see things differently, when I look at the worn head side of the coin I see a helmet of some sort, I showed my Father in Law and he said it looked like a hamlet (before I said what I thought)

Sorry that I missed this post, hope you get to see it as I believe both you and your Father in Law are right re the helmet. 



Postage stamps were issued in 1958, using the helmeted head, for the 400th anniversary of his death in 1558, which is the date(1558) on your medal, see this link   http://www.filatelissimo.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/1958_cent_muertede-carlos-i_50cts.jpg