Help identifying two coins, maybe from Iran

I have two coins maybe from Iran that I acquired from a flea market. They came with the white protectors and in the outside says, fata Ali shah, Shiraz and year 1242. The other one says Mohammad shah and Isfahan. If you guys out there know anything please let me know. They seem made of silver

Hello pipeafcr and welcome to the forum. When requesting identification on a coin it is generally really helpful if you can put up pictures of both sides and to provide details of weight and diameter if possible.

It sounds like you are on the right lines with Iran but strictly speaking it is actually Persia and at least one of your coins is from the 19th century (AH1242 in the Islamic calendar is equivalent to 1826/1827 in the Gregorian calendar). Shiraz and Isfahan are regions within Persia and here's some info on Persian rulers from my catalogue:

"Fath Ali Shah AH1212-1250 / 1797-1834AD
Fath Ali Khan succeeded his uncle, Agha Muhammad Shah, upon the latter's death on 16 June 1797, striking coins with the nickname Baba Khan. His formal enthronement took place three months later, on 15 or 16 September 1797, at which time he received the name Fath Ali Shah. His coin types are distinguished both by inscription, calligraphy, and weight standard. As the silver and gold weight standards were not altered simultaneously, the type sequences for silver and gold differ.
Note: All coins of this and succeeding reigns for hammered coinage bear the mint & date on the reverse, the mint usually with its distinguishing epithet. Only the obverse is noted in the type descriptions.
Coinage Standards of Fath Ali Shah
NOTE: Prices for silver coins are for average strikes, with some weakness or unevenness. Poorly struck coins are worth less, well-struck and well-centered coins can be worth from 25-100% more, depending on eye appeal and ornateness of design. Gold coins are generally better struck, but really attractive strikes or fancy designs also command a premium.
NOTE: Coins without legible date are worth about half the price of the cheapest date of the mint & type. Coins without legible mint are of little value. This and the previous note apply to coins of the later rulers Muhammad Shah and Nasir al-Din Shah as well as those of Fath Ali Shah."

Hope this is of some help. If you can provide more details and possibly some images then we can probably help some more. Regards, Rick

Thank you so much for all the info you just gave me here are the pictures and the first 2 are one and the last to are another  

here is the whole thing with boxes and everything. It might also have some info!





And by the way thank you for your welcoming me!

Thanks for uploading the pictures, they should be a real help if we can find a member who reads Arabic and can read both the coins and the notes on the holders.

To try to identify your second coin (bottom 2 images) I did a search in my catalogue for Silver coinage of Fath Ali Shah with a date of AH1242 in Shiraz and the only hit I got was:

KM# 710.17 KRAN 6.91 g., Silver Note: Type E.
Date Mintage F    VF      XF
AH1242 — 8.00 12.50 18.50

These are the notes given for Type E:
E. Obverse, new form of the royal protocol, Fath 'Ali Shah Qajar Khusro-ve Sahebqeran, “Fath Ali Shah Qajar, Caesar, Sahebqeran (i.e., possessor of an auspicious conjunction).” The rial was abandoned except at Mashhad and replaced by a qiran (kran) of 1000 dinars weighing 6.91 g (Unfortunately there is no image in my catalogue for this coin).

Now for your first coin (top 2 images) I think the coin may be upside down in the pictures. These are the notes from my catalogue regarding the ruler:

Muhammad Shah AH1250-1264 / 1834-1848AD
Silver Types
All purely inscriptional coins of Muhammad Shah share a common obverse legend, Mohammad Shahansha-e Anbiyja, “Muhammad, King of the Prophets,” a word-play on the name of the ruler. All have mint & date on reverse, as in previous reigns. The types differ only in their weight standards:
A. Based on a kran of 6.91 g.
B. Based on a kran of 6.33 g.
C. Based on a kran of 5.76 g.
D. Based on a kran of 5.37 g.
E. Obverse: Lion & sun within wreath. Reverse: The normal Muhammad Shah legend, together with mint & date, all within a square. Same standards as type D, with which it was contemporary.

Without a given date for this coin, identification is a little harder but by searching for Silver coinage of Muhammad Shah in Isfahan I was able to narrow it down to either a Kran or a Half Kran:

KM# 790.1 1/2 KRAN 2.88 g., Silver Note: Type C  AH1254

KM# 796.1 1/2 KRAN 2.68 g., Silver Note: Type D  AH1257-AH1263

KM# 787.2 KRAN 6.33 g., Silver Note: Type B  AH1251, AH1264

KM# 791.1 KRAN 5.76 g., Silver Note: Type C  AH1252-AH1254

KM# 797.2 KRAN 5.37 g., Silver Note: Type D  AH1255-AH1263

Again, without being able to read the Arabic inscriptions on the coin or the holder the next step would be to remove the coin from the holder (carefully and using gloves) and put it on a 0.01g scale. That's about all I can contribute at this stage so I'll say good luck and goodnight

I should probably add that if you're not comfortable with taking the coin out of its holder and you can lay your hands on an identical holder and put 4 staples in it then you could weigh the holder with the coin in and subtract the weight of the empty holder to get the weight of your coin. It might not be 100% accurate but it should be fairly close.

The other thing I forgot to mention in all this research is ... Nice Coins I'm not really into hammered coins, mainly because I can't afford them, but yours are really good examples. They appear cleanly struck with a moderate amount of wear, considering they are about 180 years old.

Thank you so much for helping me out on this! Tomorrow I'll let you know the weight of both coins and again, thank you!  

 There is a coin on eBay that looks a little like yours - I only noticed it as I happened to look on the first page of items that are expiring shortly, and the pattern looks similar. As in the 'flower' type pattern of a dot in the middle with six dots round it, with Arabic writing. Though it is listed as 'BRITISH INDIA 1 RUPEE'.

Item number: 160868473689

Thank you for the info but I don't think it's the rupee because it's in persian (the lettering on the white holders).
 I also got the weights.
The Isfahan weights 5.25 grams
&
the shiraz weights 6.78 grams

 

well then xD

The reverse of the second coin looks similar to this Kran (Qiran)
http://www.zeno.ru/showphoto.php?photo=92398
You might wish to browse this directory for a closer match.

Wow thanks for sharing this! It does look a LOT a like and well I think that might be it.... hard coin to find eh o_o btw nice web page! definitely going to use it in the future  

The Persian writing at the top of the holder in the second picture is "محمد شاه قاجار", Mohammed Shah. I can't read the bit under the staple, but the second word at the bottom is "اصفهان", Isfahan.

On the fourth holder, the first line says "فتحعلی شاه قاجار", Fath Ali Shah. I think the second line must be supposed to be "یک قران", one qiran/kran (which happens to be the same word as Quran), even though the 'q' isn't right and looks more like an 'n'. The very last word at the bottom is "شیراز", Shiraz; I can't make out the preceding (looks like 'فری', fry).

I'm afraid I can't read the coins, in these pictures at least. So ultimately this hasn't been very helpful, as the holders just say the same thing in two languages!

thank you for all your help though   it was more than enough