Token India Religious Madinah Sharif with Kalimah

We are Westerners at CoinQuest and have almost no knowledge of coins like yours. However, we have some expert friends who are able to help and they tell me this is a religious Temple Token (tanka) from Islamic India (see Zeno.ru). The mosque on the front side is Madinah Sharif (noble city), probably the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia. On the reverse side is the Muslim statement of faith, the Kalimah.

According to this Flickr page, these tokens were originally minted in solid silver during the mid 19th century (AH1200s) but later in brass. Great eye appeal raises the value of a coin.

As always, older coins in better condition are worth more than newer coins. The Internet seems to be flooded with this and similar tokens in brass selling retail for 500 to 1500 rupees, like this:

BRONZE:
worn: $5 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $15
well preserved: $40

These are catalog values. Please read our Important Terminology page to understand them. If you have one in solid silver, it would be worth much more, probably ten times these amounts.

These are exciting times in coin collecting for tokens such as this one. The Internet has enabled worldwide communication and people throughout the world are discovering the pleasures of the King of Hobbies.
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