A Tiny coin, Really Tiny

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Oooops, sorry dawg .... I tweaked my original post, so now nobody knows why you're in-my-face about Claudius-II?!!

 

I bought a few various coins from Tom in the NC shows...

 

Well, it's their fault for not being on the forum 24/7 and reading every single post.

 

Exactly => excuse me, we're posting here!!

"Hello"

 

An itty bitty fresh arrival-- another addition to the Klazomenai 101st Airborne Division, Pigasus Squadron


IONIA, Klazomenai
c. 5th century BCE
AR hemiobol, 7 x 5 mm, 0.27 gm
Obv: forepart of winged boar right
Rev: incuse square
Ref: SNG von Aulock 1985; Klein 817


Yep, it's not pretty but it's about as good as they get in this uncommon size. I was delighted when no one else bid .

 

Flying pigs - little else can be asked for!

 

@John Anthony I'm really fascinated by those Roman minimi, wondering what function they had. Do you know if there is any recent research about them? I'm sure they are being found by the thousands in Gaul and Britain (for I think that's where they come from).
@brandon spiegel, I paid resp. about $ 10, $ 10 and $ 350 for my coins. The first two are cheap for their excellent quality, the third is stiff - but I Wanted it.

 

Ok here are a couple modestly priced tiny coins, I'm talking $30 - $60ish:


Rhodes, Caria 333 - 304 BC
AE, 1.37g, 10mm; 1h
Obv.: Diademed head of mymph Rhodos right
Rev.: P-O to sides of rose, with bud/stem to both sides


Ephesos, Ionia, BC 280-258
AE, .42g, 7mm; 7h
Obv.: Bee
Rev.: Stag head right


Ephesos, Ionia, 4th-3rd BC
AE, 1.08g, 11mm; 12h
Obv.: Turreted female head left, Artemis
Rev.: [E-Φ] (mostly off flan, hints of the letters); bee with straight wings

I spent a bit more on this one and I think it's my oldest. A bit over $100:

Kyzikos, Mysia
AR Tritatemorion, 9X12mm, 0.58g; 480-450 BC.
Obv.: Forepart of running boar left, tunny fish facing upward.
Rev.: Roaring lion.
From the collection of Dr. Sidney Mygind.

All of these coins are fantastically tiny and far more interesting than another slabbed U.S. coin that looks like every other U.S. coin.

 

my smallest

Ar 0.249g, 6.7mm

 

Ooowww, small AE's ...

=> good idea, Jwt

Troas Kebren AE9


Ionia Miletos, AE10


Ionia Ephesos, AE11


Rhodes AE10

 

Tha

Interesting! thank you all for the great information, i will definitely look at purchasing tiny ancients in the future! What denomination are these coins and who typically minted them?

 

Definitely! I would like to get into ancients more, with american coins there is simply not a huge change in denomination or design, most especially when compared to ancient coins!

 

Tetartemorion is the denomination of mine. Many early Greek city-states made these, until later in the Classical age they minted bronzes in larger sizes.

 

Tetartemorion is 1/4 obol. If you search for the word obol you may get some 1/2 obols or hemiobols as well so searching for obol and tetartemorion will reveal what a place has for sale. Doing this just now showed about 200 on eBay of which about 190 are way overpriced or terrible grade but a couple are reasonable. I usually do not suggest eBay as a source for beginners but the search would show the range of what is available. vCoins (more reliable) had about five times as many including a few that struck me as reasonable in the $30-$100 range. As with larger coins, there is a wide range of coins and prices for every need.

 

If you decide to make a purchase and have doubts or questions you can always ask the board.

 

I totally agree with Jwt ...

=> it's always/usually a better idea to bounce any questions off of the CT-gang "before" buying the coin (because sometimes their wise answers make you think to yourself, "DOH")


Ummm, and/or always only buy from sellers with good return policies (for example, vcoins dealers will return the coin if it's ever found to be a fake) ... oh, and I have also found an e-bay seller who will also back-up their product with that same guarantee (I'm sure that there are several other e-bay sellers with this same luxury?) ... because man, it sure takes the gamble/sting out of accidentally buying a dawg!

 

Sage advice from Steve:

Ask BEFORE you buy!

 

More advice (a request, actually): if the coin is currently for auction, ask privately. If another forum member is bidding or is planning on bidding, they won't appreciate you drawing attention to their target. If the coin is offered at a fixed price, that's different. Post it publicly at your own risk.

 

=> 100% (never ask the troops about "live auction" coins) ...

TIF is correct (that's a definite no-fricken-no!!)