A Tiny coin, Really Tiny

This is the smallest coin I own. I wasn't even sure my scale would register the minuscule weight. But the devises are engraved so well, even with the wear, there is no mistaking what they are. The coin was struck slightly off center, but in truth, I can't image how they could strike such a small flan.

MYLASA, CARIA
AR Tetartemorion
OBVERSE: Lion's head left with reversed foreleg below
REVERSE: Lion's scalp facing, flanked by leg on both sides, in incuse circle
Struck at Mylasa, 392-376 BC
.2g, 6mm
SNG Keckman I 837-846 (lion left) I do not own this reference so am relying on internet sources.

Struck by Hecatomnus of Mylasa or Hekatomnos (Greek: Ἑκατόμνος) who was an early 4th-century BC ruler of Caria. He was the satrap (governor) of Caria for the Persian Achaemenid king Artaxerxes II (404–358 BC). However, the basis for Hecatomnus' political power was twofold: he was both a high appointed Persian official and a powerful local dynast, who founded the hereditary dynasty of the Hecatomnids.

In a previous thread, someone said these small coins were carried in the mouth in order to hide them from robbers. I would probably swallow it and have to search for it at a later time. Yuk!

Post your small coins of any era.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I always remember that an almond weighs a gram...you have 1/5 of an almond! I love those tetartemorions...amazing how folks used them to trade. I could not keep them in my paws!

 

That is tiny, neat. Don't have any that small either.

 

Nice runt-coin @Bing !

My little runt!



Ionia, Kolophon, 6th-century BC
AR tetartemorion, 0.15g; 530-520 BC
Obv.: Archaic head of Apollo left.
Rev.: Incuse punch.
Reference: SNG Kayhan 343

I keep mine in a US Dime capsule, then in a Safeflip in my album. Else, I would lose it. Just amazes me how tiny these coins are!

 

how in the world could they produce a coin with such precision, its just amazing!

 

It is just amazing, I agree. I am near-sighted, but I am sure I would never be able to cut those dies!

 

I am doing the same. If I have to handle it much, I will lose it for sure.

 

I have 1 or 2 that small from India 2-3mm. now if i could only find that pic...

 

Engraving such small dies is one thing, striking them is another story. I imagine the guy involved loosing at least two fingers everytime he would punch the dies with his hammer : they must have been slaves and change them frequently

Q

 

That one's in great shape, Bing. These little Greek fractions would really make a neat sub-collection that one could build on the cheap.


IONIA, Teos
Circa 540-478 BC
AR Tetartemorion
0.14g, 4.7mm
Cf. CNG 63, lot 506
O: Head of griffin left.
R: Quadripartite incuse square with raised central pellet.

Perspective shot, next to a grain of rice...

 

Small? - Here is my Gold Haga, or one-quarter Fanam next to an 1883 Morgan Dollar. (My smallest coin at 2.28 mm.)
Obv: Cross
Rev: Cow

 

Everytime this comes up I show the same coins since I so rarely get a new one. You are paying more than I will. My favorite is in poor condition but I like it because it is related to a famous coin. This Syracuse hexas is 1/300 of their famous dekadrachm. While not pretty and not at all in demand, the hexas is quite scarce. Search and see how many you find compared to the big guys.

Syracuse AR hexas, 0.05g but exfoliation has removed half of its original weight
Arathusa head rt./2 dots 485-476 BC
The hexas is 1/6 litra; a litra is 1/5 drachm; that is 300 in a dekadrachm. I paid $54 for this one which is 1/300 of $16,200 or roughly the price for a low grade dekadrachm. Mine is not for sale but I would like an upgrade.



I am embarassed by my Athens tetartemorion. At 0.15g it is too big. I really wanted the hemitartemorion or half of it but have not found one yet. This is so off center that all we got was the helmet crest on Athena. A little imagination shows the A and theta above the crescent. I would not have bought this one but for the fact that I have not seen that many and decided on a space filler.


Three times as big is this 0,5g 3/4 obol (tritartemorion) presented without apology (ex NFA 1990 - the same sale had a nice tetartemorion on which I was outbid).

 

What a tiny coin! I don't know how the ancient Greeks weren't losing them all the time.

The technical skill involved to produce something that small is truly a marvel.

 

what vespasian70 said.
It's not that difficult to understand their creation, Miniature tools and lot of magnification, but very difficult to imagine how they were circulated and handled. Magnifiers weren't affordable by normal people, even rich people...
Plus, however small they are, they actually carried quite a bit of value, few bucks of today's dollar in a 5mm.

My other question, how does one tell the value if they were that small, and with varying weights and sizes Didn't people get ripped off all the time? How does one know he had a Tetartemorion or Trihemitartemorion or even Hemiobol without being able to see what the graphics were?

 

vespasion70 said "I don't know how the ancient Greeks weren't losing them all the time."

Doug didn't mention it, but this is from his site:
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/tiny.html

"Evidence in literature suggests that these coins were carried in the owner's mouth." I would imagine they were placed between the cheek and gum...less chance of swallowing them than dropping them. I wonder what a saliva patina looks like!

Ah, I see Bing mentioned it in the OP.

 

how neat bing! little coins are very cool!

so are big coins.

and medium coins as well.

i posted my smallest recently, but here is a view of it in hand (on finger...7mm at widest).

 

They did. That is how we got the ones we have. Relatively few hoards were made up of thousands of tiny coins compared to those of larger ones. Don't we wish there were more EF specimens from pot finds but what we have were well circulated an often field finds. I wish I could upgrade my favorites with smooth surfaced coins.

Hektatomnos Satrap, Caria, AR tetartemorion, Lion/Apollo

http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=22903
The CNG coin sold for over 10x mine and correctly due to my poor surfaces. What would the coin be worth if the entire surface were like my cheeks?

 

Man i just dont have anything this small. 0.2 is darn small and some are smaller as seen in this thread. Wow don't loose it (@TIF )

 

Just for contrast:

 

Holy crow, Big-bro ... that's an amazing OP-coin (very small and amazingly cool)

well, okay then ...

=> here are a few of my lil' babies ...

Island off Thrace
8 mm
0.56 grams



Ionia Ephesos Tetartemorion
5 x 8 mm
0.17 grams



Troas Diobol
8 mm
1.16 grams



Troas Obol
7 mm
0.61 grams



Ionia Erythrai Hemiobol
6 mm
0.29 grams



Macedon Mende
10 mm
0.62 grams



Macedon Eion
10 mm
0.37 grams



Pamphylia Side
9 mm
0.64 grams



Satraps of Caria
9.5 mm
0.82 grams



Arkadia Arkadian League
10 mm
0.74 grams



Sweet, eh? => yah, a few of those babies are definitely some of my favourite coins (thanks for letting me show-off my stuff, coin-bro)