Added a very rare (unlisted?) AR tetronkion from Syracuse with Octopus, weighing in at slightly over 0.2g! Could only find 1 other like it on acsearch. It will be a nice project trying to find it! http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-144463 and a fantastic AR Litra with an Octopus weighing in at just 0.65g! http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-144462 Loving the detail on these fantastic tiny coins! Let's see your octopus coins or tiny fractions under 0.7g
WOW, @Jay GT4 , I really like those AR examples! Really really nice! Couple of my Syracuse Octopi: SYRACUSE 2nd Democr 466-405 BCE Æ Tetras 2.7g 15mm c.425 BCE Arethusa dolphins - Octopus 3 pellets SNG ANS 376 Calciati II.21.1 Sicily Syracuse AE Onkia 12-10mm 1.4g 425-415 BCE Arethusa - Octopus BMC 249 Couple of my Fractions - Tetartemorions are fun... Uncert West Asia Minor Karia 5th C BC AR tetartemorion 5mm 0.15g Female - Frprt Bull man r Kayhan 968 exc rght Aeolis Elaea AR Tetartemorion 460 BCE Athena L - Olive Wreath 7.8mm 0.16g SNG Cop 166
WOW, both fantastic coins!! Especially the RRR tinier one... what incredible detail on the reverse of that tiny flan!
Congrats on your octopodes! My eyes could be playing tricks on me but it appears that your litra reverse isn't front-facing but rather slightly to the side, which would be quite artistically interesting. Here's my litra, with a classical head versus your archaic example:
Oh, I love those. Have wanted one for a while. Octopi have eluded me so far, however. @AncientJoe ups the bar, as usual. Wow. What a strike on that one.
Those are both wonderful coins! My octopus is a fat 0.8g junker which once spelled out the city name on the obverse. From Syracuse, My smallest is this ghost of a hexas now weighing 0.05g but before lamination took its toll probably was twice that. 300 of these would buy you a dekadrachm back then but today there are not 300 left. I've seen a couple others and mine is not the worst.
Fantastic coins, Jay! Those are so hard to find in good condition. I have no silver octopodes but here are some bronzes: Sicily, Syracuse. Dionyisos I, tetras. Nymph / octopus Sicily, Syracuse. AE 13, c. 425 BCE. Nymph (Arethusa?)/hippocamp & octopus
The little one is really something else. The litra is great too. Congrats on the two excellent pickups! SICILY, Syracuse AE Onkia. 1.35g, 12.1mm. SICILY, Syracuse, Second Democracy, circa 466-405 BC. CNS 10. O: ΣVPA, Head of the nymph Arethusa, right; dolphin behind. R: Octopus; pellet between tentacles. CALABRIA, Tarentum AR Nomos. 7.86g, 19.3mm. CALABRIA, Tarentum, circa 500-490 BC. Vlasto 115. O: Phalanthos riding dolphin right, holding octopus in right hand, left hand extended; TAPAΣ (retrograde) below. R: Hippocamp left; scallop below, TAPAΣ (retrograde) above.
Thanks for the comments and great coins everyone. You have to wonder how they carried these tiny pieces around. I almost lost them twice trying to photograph them!
My tiniest coin, though still more than 1 gram: Mysia, Kyzikos (c.480 BC) AR Trihemiobol, 10 mm, 1.16 g Obv: Forepart of boar left ; Tunny upward Rev: Head of roaring lion left, outstretched tongue, all within incuse square Ref: Von Fritze, Nomisma IX Kyzikos, Group II, 9 / Table V, 10-11.
Nice octopus coins everyone Sicily, Syracuse, c. 425-415 BC. Æ Onkia (12mm, 1.47g, 6h). Head of Arethusa r. R/ Octopus; pellet below. CNS II, 9; SNG ANS 383; HGC 2, 1434. Dark green patina