Richard,
Interesting, I also thought of falcon's perch. I saw a few, and they do have spikes to be pushed into the ground, although the top is almost always has horizontal bar for falcon's claws to grab comfortably. The wooden ball with chains may make it uncomfortable for the bird to land on.
Colin,
I also saw similar devices as being described as self-flagellation for Ashura, although with longer chains. Mine has quite short links, although this may have be intended due to ceremonial purposes.
I also have not seen any viable references or more detailed descriptions for these.
Also, here are closeups of the coins. They do not look Eastern.
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