Were hemiobols used in day to day commerce or strictly for offerings at temples? I cannot imagine them being very practical for day to day use. I knew mine was small, but it didn't sink in fully until I snapped this picture today. Did the ancients really use these on a daily basis to conduct business transactions? I find that difficult to believe.
I believe they were used for day to day commerce, or at least I think I read that somewhere. I will have to see if I can find that article. BTW, what is the size of Hemiobol? I have one like it that is 9.5mm, and .41g. But it's not my smallest coin. That honor goes to this coin from Mylasa which is only 6mm and .2g: 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 have read people carried them in their mouths to avoid losing them on the way to the market. They are really impractical but some are also very artistic. John
Mine is also 9.5mm at its widest point, and just under 9mm at its narrowest point. Weight is .394g according to FORVM, from where I purchased it.
@Theodosius I have read that as well, but it seems likely many were swallowed by mistake. I wouldn't want to be the one fishing for it afterwards.
Obviously the ancients never heard of germ theory. The whole thing sounds gross. Someone pulling a tiny coin out oh his unwashed mouth to pay you for something, and you slipping it into yours for safe keeping. That's almost as gross as Roman toilet sponges...
Had the Greeks known about germ theory, the world would have had to had more wars to kill off the excess population. I wonder if they would have invented antibiotics 2000 years ago and resistant bacteria would have had longer to have killed us all. Hemiobols are nice and give me a lot of fun at shows. I ask new (to me) dealers if they have and really small Greek silver. Some show drachms; some even have a few obols. I really like fractions smaller than that. My lightest is about 0.05g but the smallest diameter one (between 4 and 5 mm depending on how you measure) is much thicker so it weighs twice as much. Don't worry about my passing the germy little things to you. I keep my under 10mm coins separately because it is the part of my collection my daughter intends to keep when I'm gone. My grandson even said he likes them (but doesn't want the big stuff either). I have several pages showing them on the website but my favorite photo is the Phocaea 0.1g on cent. Phocaea, Ionia - Silver 1/8 obol? - Late Sixth Century BC - 5mm, .1g Female head 'Smyrna type' left / 4 part incuse - Rosen 598 detail here: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/tiny.html
Interesting! Thankfully US currency was never this small (the smallest US type coin, the T1 gold dollar, was 12.7 mm and weighed 1.67 g, and the lightest US type coin, the silver 3-cent piece, was 14 mm and weighed between .75 and .8 g)
Instead of keeping this in my pocket as a good luck piece, I carry it between my cheek and gum (hey it is better than chewing tobacco!) Ionia, Kolophon, 6th-century BC AR Tetartemorion, 530-520 BCE 0.15g 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!
