Is my scale wildly out of calibration? The Sear book shows the Ionia Tetartemorion at c. 0.4 grams and this coin is weighing-in at 0.06 grams. I’m getting tired of taking it out of the holder & re-weighing it. IT WEIGHS 0.06 GRAMS on my Dillon scale. It is certainly the smallest ancient coin that I have personally ever handled. It was promptly placed it into a 2x2 so it wouldn’t get lost in the carpeting. 0.06 grams would be about 1/48th of a 3.2 gram ancient drachm. What do you folks think? I appreciate your comments & corrections to my coin label. @DougSmith posted a similar conundrum here: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/show-results.325585/#post-3216338 I agree that it is difficult to make this 4mm coin look impressive on a large computer screen. If you stand about 3 meters from the computer, you will appreciate what this coin looks like in hand with the naked eye. IONIA, Phokaia AR Tetartemorion 530-510 B.C. 0.06 grams (0.9 grains), 4 mm. Obv: Head of griffin facing right. Rev: Incuse square roughly quartered. Grade: Good fine or a VF. Well centered coin w/ obverse griffin head easy to see w/o magnification. Other: Sear 3500D, B.M.C. 14.215, 85. Do you have a teeny-tiny coin? Please post ‘em if you got ‘em.
Now that's small! PHOKAIA, IONIA AE12 OBVERSE: Female head left, hair in a sphendone REVERSE: Head of griffin left Sturck at Phokaia, ca 350-300 BC 12mm, 1.86g BMC 91-93; SNG von Aulock 2135; SNG Cop 1031-1033; SNG Leipzig 1206; SNG Tuebingen 3121-3122
I call my 0.10g, 5mm coin a Teos hemitartemorion. I will need to study more to see where we differ. A coin like mine could leech weight in burial so the weight difference is not a deal breaker. Is the edge chipped? https://www.acsearch.info/search.ht...s=1&thesaurus=1&order=0¤cy=usd&company=
I will put some serious effort into getting better photos posted. The photos will speak more than 1,000 words. Thank you for the link!
The British Museum has examples at 0.09 and 0.11 g. They just call them fractions. The weights on this page are in "grains", not grams. No picture. The ANS has one at 0.87 g (again, no picture here). They just call it a fraction. If your coin was issued during Persian times it is probably a 1/192 stater. If issued during Greek times, a hemitetartemorion. This one is double triple the weight of yours: Ionia, Teos 475-450 BC, Tetartemorian. 0.18g, 7mm
WOW, @Collect89 ! NICE find, cool tiny! I have decided to cut mine in half so that I can have one as small as yours! Ionia AR Tetartemorion 4mm 0.13g 530-500 BCE Rosette - Incuse sq punch 5 pellets SNG von Aulock 1807 Iona Kolophon AR Tetartemorion 530-520 BCE Archaic Apollo Incuse Punch 0.15g 4.5mm- SNG Kayhan 343 Left old
Uncert West Asia Minor Karia 5th C BC AR tetartemorion 5mm 0.15g Female - Frprt Bull man r Kayhan 968 exc rght Ionia Miletos AR Tetartemorion 5.6mm 0.21g Roaring Lion Hd - Bird Klein 430 SNG Kay 941 Aeolis Elaia AR Tetartemorion 460 BCE Athena L - Olive Wreath 7.8mm 0.16g SNG Cop 166
I really like yours! Mine is a tad bigger... IONIA Teos AR tetartemorion 0.2g 6mm Hd griffin R mouth open - Quadripartite incuse SNG Turkey 602
It strikes me that the same dies could have produced these large and the small coins like the OP and mine.
It doesn't appear that the edge was chipped recently & I'm not being very successful shooting new photos with available equipment. We must get rid of the dust, get better depth of field, & take it out of the holder for the umpteenth time. Apologies to all that gaze at this photo. Everyone's posted coins & photos are awesome. I think this tiny, thin coin has suffered in the soil. The seller's holder said it weighed a gram. .
OMG, this coin is so small, I see MOLECULE CHAINS right beside it. No, @Collect89 , you have GREAT photographic skills!
Here's mine that is just that much slightly bigger to make it near-ish the range you mention for the tetartemorion. Phokaia, Ionia, Circa 500-460 BC AR Tetartemorion Obverse: Head of griffin right. Reverse: Quadripartite incuse square. References: SNG Copenhagen Supp. 339, SNG von Aulock 7938 Size: 7mm, 0.33g Notes: Appears to be a double die match with Roma E-Sale 10 (7/26/2014), Lot # 336 I find that incuse quad interesting with the bit that is not incuse (on mine mostly bottom-right), and that it's on others of the similar type, like the OP, whereas it doesn't seem accidental??
Teos Hemitartemorian it is. IONIA, Teos AR Hemitartemorion ca. 500 B.C. 0.06 grams (0.9 grains), 4 mm. Obv: Head of griffin facing right. Rev: Incuse square roughly quartered. Grade: Good Fine or better for the type. Well centered coin with rough surfaces. Obverse griffin head easy to see without magnification. Other: Possibly Matzke Group Bx4
My Neandria tetartemorion is .08, but then, there is still a good bit of dirt in the very deep incus.
