Thread: Mmore Trivia - Smallest Gold Coin

During the 14th century a wealthy Hindu empire flourished as a trading center in southern India known as the Vijayanagar Empire. One of the world's most interesting coins was made by it. A gold coin called Bele. This 1 Bele gold piece is only 2 millimeters to 3 millimeters in diameter and weighs in at a miniscule 1/2 gram making it the world's smallest gold coin. The moneychangers of Vijayanagar were known for having such precise scales that they could accurately weigh a single strand of a camel's hair, thus they could count the tiny Bele gold pieces by weight. A depiction of a Hindu god or goddess (the coins are so small and so crudely made, it is hard to tell whether the depiction is male or female) is on one side of the coin and a sanskrit character on the other side.

Let me know if you enjoyed this bit of trivia,

Clinker

I enjoyed it, but wish you had included a picture.

My coin dealer in Arizona has one of those in his shop! They're pretty neat!

That's really an interesting fact.

You would probably have to have a camera with a micro lens in order to get a picture of such a small coin. Sure would like to see one of those. Is there any way of doing that?

Originally Posted by Guardian

You would probably have to have a camera with a micro lens in order to get a picture of such a small coin. Sure would like to see one of those. Is there any way of doing that?

Sure - this is what they look like - Click Here

Very interesting, especially with pics to go with.