These tiny coins, well tiny coins in general have fascinated me. The amount of detail the engravers were able to put into them at such an era some people would think impossible. This coin however I've seen in Drachms but not in an obol. Since this is another first I've seen of its kind when I saw it I just had to have it. Some of you may recognize this coin. Moesia, Istros AR Trihemiobol 10mm, 1.1g. 380/350-330/280BC Facing male heads, the right inverted IΣTPIH Sea-eagle grasping dolphin with talons SNG BM 250 And feel free to comment and PILE ON
Nice score! Never knew that type came so small. Here's my latest small coin purchase : Aiolis, Gryneion AE11, 1.3g, 12h; 3rd Century BC. Obv.: Laureate head of Apollo, 3/4 facing left. Rev.: ΓYP-NH; Mussel shell. Reference: SNG Ashmolean 1447–8; SNG Copenhagen 205–6.
They come in a range of sizes but the large and popular drachms are more common. The good thing is more and more dealers are realizing that there is a market for small coins. Not all that long ago many only would sell tetradrachms and considered drachms 'small silver'. 0.3g 0.8g I am less than certain how accurate it is to force Athenian names on the coins but it does seem that our coin is roughly the same weight as my two combined so we can be forgiven calling them hemiobol, obol and trihemiobol. The drachms (no more accurate a name IMO but what we call them) tend to weigh a bit over 5g and 6x my 0.8g 'obol' is a bit under what we might expect. What I'm saying here is I have not studied this in depth and I do not know if anyone has. There is a big difference between numismatic scholarship and copying down names from a coin catalog. Perhaps if weighed a thousand of them and looked hard at the results, we might see a pattern but proving how their system worked and what names they applied to the coins will be harder. For the record: they come in fourree and barbarous, too. Nothing seems easy. I do love this type.
Nice pickup @Smojo. The version of your coin has eluded me so far, but I keep hunting fro the right one at the right price. THRACE, ISTROS AR Drachm OBVERSE: Facing male heads, the left inverted (Polydeuces Castor and Pollucs (AKA Dioskuri) REVERSE: Sea-eagle left, grasping dolphin with talons; ISTRIH above, Q between wing and tail, K beneath dolphin Struck at Istros, 400-300BC 5.3g, 19mm AMNG 434
Nice catch, Smojo at first I thought it was bronze because of the green patina ? Heres my Moesia Istros:
Lol, I don't alaways take the best photos, but when I do!!!!!! Here's the seller pics. Now everyone is thinking, where have I seen this pic before?
Smojo => congrats on that super-cool OP-score ... it's a total winner! Ummm, I have an example ... wanna see it? cheers, coin-bro
