Coin or Tool?

[ffjen]

This coin was found in a second-hand/antique store.  It was so different that it sparked our interest but now I cannot find anything on it to know what it is.  Has anyone seen it or can anyone read it?  It almost looks like a tool more than a coin with the notch in it and all the numbers written.  Any thoughts?

[JKK]

28 minutes ago, ffjen said:

This coin was found in a second-hand/antique store.  It was so different that it sparked our interest but now I cannot find anything on it to know what it is.  Has anyone seen it or can anyone read it?  It almost looks like a tool more than a coin with the notch in it and all the numbers written.  Any thoughts?

I think it's an Israeli telephone token. On the first pic, at bottom it says 'telfon' in Hebrew, 'telafun' in Arabic. Those mean exactly what you'd imagine they would mean. On second, you see the traditional dial phone from the old days. The words there (in Hebrew) read 'tashrad (vowels uncertain)...' (bottom part is a little too indistinct for me to transliterate). Interesting find. Wish my Hebrew wasn't so rusty; I could probably tell you what the back says.

[Just Bob]

2 hours ago, JKK said:

I think it's an Israeli telephone token. 

You nailed.it.

[JKK]

Looks like from the 1960s, called an Asimon token, used evidently until the 1980s. I'm a little puzzled on the date; my Jewish calendar reference does not give 'tav shin mem"nun' as a date from that time period. It could be I'm misreading it somehow. JE dating has always given me fits; we weren't taught it in class at all. Most likely whiff would be the nun as a bet, but that also doesn't correspond to a year (it corresponds to one that should also have the letter he in front of it). They aren't worth much, so it's mostly a 'for fun' exercise.

[ffjen]

Looking at Numista https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces16923.html  I see where the 3 years are represented but you're right JKK, the years don't match this one.  In trying to troubleshoot the date, to me it looks like 5742.  So maybe a reproduction?  Because that would mean more like 1982, right?

[JKK]

1 hour ago, ffjen said:

Looking at Numista https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces16923.html  I see where the 3 years are represented but you're right JKK, the years don't match this one.  In trying to troubleshoot the date, to me it looks like 5742.  So maybe a reproduction?  Because that would mean more like 1982, right?

That is the nearest match, but it's just not near enough. The he at the beginning of 5742, missing on this token, is not an optional part of the date. What is more, the supposed bet at the end looks much more to me like a nun, except...at the end, a nun would be a nun-sofit (in Hebrew, five letters have special forms when they end a word, and this also applies to abbreviations and dates; for example, 5720-1960 is tav shin khaf-sofit; sof means end, sofit is the feminine variation of end). So unless my rudimentary modern Israeli Hebrew is missing a big piece, I'd say that's not a date, but some other abbreviation of gods know what. I realize that's clear as botz (mud).

[ffjen]

Thank you so much for your help.  I will keep searching, but without knowing Hebrew, I'm afraid I'll never know.