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Old 17th January 2012, 12:30 PM   #1
thinreadline
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Default SUDAN ? SPEAR WITH CHAINS & COINS

Here is a curiosity & favourite from my collection . I believe it is from the Sudan but have never known exactly what is is for. It is a short spear 30 cm in total , shaft covered in crocodile skin . The butt is of carved wood to which is attached a series of chains each terminating in a coin. It makes a splendid jangle when shaken , so I wondered if it was part of some dancing regalia ? Your opinions eagerly sought .
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Old 18th January 2012, 02:01 PM   #2
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Hi

I'm not really certain what this is - except to say I had a pair of similar pieces some years ago. An old collector at the time told me they were dance implements from Kordofan (Sudan). I've never seen any references and would be interested to know of any...

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Old 18th January 2012, 02:08 PM   #3
Andy Stevens
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We second the dance wand notion, seem to remember a post on the original forum way back when... interesting object.
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Old 18th January 2012, 02:13 PM   #4
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Dance spear certainly makes sense to me.

The coins should be Egyptian.

http://www.anythinganywhere.com/comm...pics/egypt.htm

Of course a closeup of the coin can probably reveal the date to one of our resident Arabic readers. Of course with the caution the coins could be much older than the overall piece.
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Old 18th January 2012, 02:37 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Iain
Dance spear certainly makes sense to me.

The coins should be Egyptian.

http://www.anythinganywhere.com/comm...pics/egypt.htm

Of course a closeup of the coin can probably reveal the date to one of our resident Arabic readers. Of course with the caution the coins could be much older than the overall piece.
I agree with Iain that the coins may be older than the item itself. They appear to have the Ottoman Tugra on them.
You should be able to ID them fairly easily. They look late to me, I'd guess they are for Abdulhamid II 1842-1918.
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Old 18th January 2012, 03:20 PM   #6
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Thanks all of you ... that ties in with what I had believed. Here is a clearer pic of a coin with date if someone can translate .
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Old 18th January 2012, 03:30 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thinreadline
Thanks all of you ... that ties in with what I had believed. Here is a clearer pic of a coin with date if someone can translate .
Yep, you've got 1277 Hijira which I make 1860.
If my maths is right, then Abdulhamid II didn't take the throne until 1878 so the Tugra might be Murad V?
Assuming the date is the date of minting and not a generic date?
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Old 18th January 2012, 03:42 PM   #8
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Seems to conform with a 10 qirsh piece, 1861-76.

http://www.icollector.com/images/166..._0437_2_lg.jpg

EDIT: Oop I see someone got the date for you.
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