interesting "coin" on a Jambiya
 

I recently bought a Jambiya, I assume not very old or valuable, but the fake coins struck me as interesting. The 4 in the date is backwards. Is this kind of coin common on Jambiyas? Anybody know what it's a copy of? It looks like Greek soldier on horseback slaying a dragon or something.

Is it worth testing the hilt material on this one? It isn't translucent whatsoever so I assume it's wood or plastic. I'll be happy as long as it isn't Chinese.

The coin is a fake brass {rather than gold.} British sovereign, dated 1914, probably the commonest coin used on Yemini jambiya since the late 1970s.

The image on the coin is St. George slaying the dragon...

The hilt is not worth "testing" Which just as well because it would be totally illegal for you to possess in the USA if it was given its clearly recent manufacture if it was rhino..{Without the relevant documentation.}. ;)

Spiral

Point taken - if it was Rhino I wouldn't want to know. I tried shining a flashlight through it and it's completely opaque, so I think that rules out any kind of horn anyway. Or does horn only turn translucent when it's old? I'll poke it with a hot needle to see if it's plastic and leave it at that.

Thank you for IDing the coin. I wonder why the 4 seems to have been deliberately turned backward. Perhaps somebody repaired the die they were using to stamp these things out and got the number backwards.

Edit: I did the hot needle test, it melted a little rather than burning like wood. It didn't smell like plastic but it didn't smell exactly like hair either. I wetted it down and it smelled a bit musty. I'm going to assume it's bull horn and leave it at that.

Hi Blue Lander
Your "coin" as stated by Spiral, is a copy of the British Sovereign/Half Sovereign and shows St George slaying a dragon. It is of course not gold but is made of brass. Another "coin" copy often seen is that of a Venetian coin of Duke Aloys Mocenigo (1570-77). The name given to these decorative buttons is HURUF.
The hilt of your jambiya could be either bone or horn of some sort as other horn types were used apart from Rhino.
I would also comment that the belt looks as if it is hand embroidered rather than machine done, which would suggest perhaps that it is less likely to be a mass produced tourist piece.
Stu

Thank you. I really like the belt as well, the colors are very vibrant. It's nowhere near long enough to fit around my American sized gut, though. Definitely for a man of a smaller build.

I know it's nigh impossible to tell what animal a horn came from just from pictures, but I'm attaching some close ups for the heck of it. The horn tubules are rather pretty I think.

There note tubules there fibres, that's the difference.

The Yeminis work hard to enhance the structure of Buffalo to make it look more exotic.

The split & grain tells the story as well. ;)

But its all keratin of a bovine. {very different structure though.}

Spiral

Ah, gotcha.

Yes its bovine.
Ibrahiim al Balooshi :shrug: