India, Moghul / Princely States silver (?) coin

I have to admit defeat on this one.

It appears to be Indian, weighs 3.5gr, is 21mm diameter, plain edge, non magnetic and either silver or cupro-nickel.



If anyone can either identify this coin or even provide a date or other point of reference I would be very grateful.

Something about the dots around the side made me think of Tunisia:

Similar to this https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces35845.html

It's from Algeria

Wouldn't even come close to thinking it's from India, let alone Asia.

I don't want to identify it because it looks fake to me. The strong machine-struck impressions on the coin really make it look fake.

I was inclining towards Indian because the text is laid out in 4 lines like Moghul Akbar coins but clearly barking up the wrong tree.

Thank you Ben and Joseph for pointing me in the right direction. I've been able to make some progress.

It's Algerian, Sultan Mahmud II, 1808 -1839, fractional Budju. Here's where it gets interesting again, There are 1 & 2 Budja coins from this period which match the layout but they are much larger, in the 30/40mm range. There are also several lower denominations, 1/8, 1/3, 1/4 Budja but they have a different layout with the inscription on 3 lines instead of 4.

http://www.vcoins.com/world/topkapi/store/listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?idCategory=81

Frustratingly, NGC don't have pictures or even specifications for most of the Algerian Ottoman coins. I've not been able to find any information beyond this.

As to the coin's authenticity, that remains to be proven. It is a rather trite argument that a coin is fake because it "looks fake". I can show you a whole bunch of coins which I can guarantee are 100% fake but yet they "look real". Authenticity, or the lack of it, is initially determined by comparing a coin's weight and dimension to known specifications. In order to do that you first have to identify the coin!  Beyond that it is a matter of knowing the characteristics of the series and various dies used which is way beyond my pay grade.

There are several reasons to believe it may be a counterfeit, either contemporary or modern, the stylised date and variation of colour from the field to the relief although that may be the result of injudicious cleaning (no, not by me). As I can't read Arabic script apart from basic numbers I'm not worried about the date. Once I have the coin identified and can compare it to certified examples I will have a much better idea. Until then I will reserve judgement.

Thanks Phil please do keep us posted on what you find out. I was stumped looking through NGC, very few of their Algerian budju pages have any dimensions or pictures...

Cool cool, I knew I wasn't right...but I was close geographically.