Coins from france

dansoy23

Newbie
Jul 28, 2023
4
3
Hi guys, does anyone knows what kind of coin this might be, I've got this from my aunt from france with the other coins, but this what caught me a surprise, cause it was covered with a cloth.
IMG_20231213_094749.jpg
IMG_20231213_094518.jpg
 

Welcome to Tnet.

It appears to me to be cast (not struck) in base metal with a gold wash/plate that has begun to wear through. The details on the obverse portrait that resembles either a Roman Empress or Greek Goddess seem to be distinctly modernised.

I would think it to be a modern fantasy based on a provincial Greek or Roman-Greek Empire ancient coin having a stylised 'ear of barley' reverse. I only looked briefly, but couldn't find a match to anything on which it might be loosely based.
 

Welcome to Tnet.

It appears to me to be cast (not struck) in base metal with a gold wash/plate that has begun to wear through. The details on the obverse portrait that resembles either a Roman Empress or Greek Goddess seem to be distinctly modernised.

I would think it to be a modern fantasy based on a provincial Greek or Roman-Greek Empire ancient coin having a stylised 'ear of barley' reverse. I only looked briefly, but couldn't find a match to anything on which it might be loosely based.
Thank you, i really appreciate your help.
I also brought it to gold smith and the result is silver on that inside part.
 

Whether or not it's a coin, the object depicts the Greek Goddess, Demeter, from the area of Lucania Metapontum (META on the 'coin'). If a coin, if was minted ~330-280 BC.
Adding: The coins of Metapontum in Lucania are some of the most instantly recognisable from the ancient world. This particular city owed most of its vast wealth to the abundance of barley it was able to produce in its fertile land. The inhabitants chose to adorn their coins with a large grain-ear, either as a reference to their wealth, or an etymological link (as Monterio suggests) to the Greek word for the autumn harvest, metoporinos, which would have seen the gathering of the city’s grain crop. (Source: https://www.baldwin.co.uk/news/the-barley-coins-from-metapontum)
Don in SoCal
 

On authentic "META" / DEMETER/Lucania coins the barley ear depicks 6 or seven grains. On the OP's image, no grains are shown; only a straight line. This makes me believe this is not a coin.
Don in SoCal
 

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