A Tiny coin, Really Tiny

Piling on here. Many of us hold off bidding on a coin until near the end of the sale to avoid drawing attention to a coin and encouraging others to bid more. If you post on a coin I am already planning to buy, I have to choose between going ahead with my planned last minute bid or giving it up to avoid looking like I took it from you. In fact the number of people reading these posts exceeds those who post so pointing out a nice coin could cause you to lose it to one of those who lurk. If you PM someone here you trust (for example TIF) and she already has plans for bidding, she can tell you both her opinion of the coin and the fact that you will have to outbid her to get it.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Awesome! thank you

 

Awesome! thank you for the advice!

 

I think the hemitetartemorion is the smallest type of all.

Anyways, Savoca-Coins has one available on eBay at a good quality.
It is the rosette hemitetartemorion. Or donut hemitetartemorion for Homer Simpson.

 

G'Day Steve,
I know this is an old discussion, but I'm curious about that last coin you posted minted in Megalopolis under the Arkadian League. This same coin appears to be for sale on Ebay. Is it no longer in your collection?

Rob

FNQ, Au

 

Steve no longer posts here on CT; however, that is his coin being sold for him by a long time friend and dealer. It is an excellent coin and the price is right.

 

I'm guessing back slapping was frowned upon.

Here is my porker...

Mysia, Kyzikos, 450 - 400 BC
Silver Hemiobol
Boar & Lion
9mm, .44 grams

 

G'Day Bing,

Thanks for the quick reply.

I just wanted to make sure the coin wasn't stolen or possibly an exact replica of the original (surface crystallization and all!). I just purchased the tiny obol from the Ebay dealer at a slightly discounted price. Our Oz dollar is currently at an all-time low compared to the Yank greenback and any chance of reducing the exchange costs is always a definite benefit.

Can you or anyone else here suggest a way to track down the provenance of an ex-BCD coin? The Ebay seller has no included hard data with the coin. I'm always keen to make a historical connection with these amazing little objects.

The coin in question was minted in the ancient Peloponnese city of Megalopolis. I had the pleasure last May of wondering around the remains of that great city (see attached photos). It's exciting to think that I will soon be holding a product of ancient Megalopolis in my hand!

Cheers, Rob FNQ,Au

 

With how many ancients probably ended up swallowing some of these tiny coins accidentally (if they did indeed carry them in the mouth), I'd imagine that solves the problem of how the government would pay the public latrine cleaners. I bet they must have pulled quite a pile of those tiny fractional gold and silver coins every time they cleaned the public latrines/sewer system.



Here's mine. I wonder if it ever made the journey from mouth, to rectum, to latrine at least once.

 

The public toilets of ancient Ephesus must have been a "gold mine"for the slaves that maintained them.

 

Hi, Buffo!

Welcome to CoinTalk and congrats on the coin (and stop licking that toad )

I checked the CNG auction listing from when Steve bought this coin (CNG 348, lot 246) and it says "Ex BCD Collection (not in previous BCD sales)". BCD had an astoundingly large collection and a good portion of it is being slowly sold off through CNG. You can trust CNG's attribution.

You might be able to track the pedigree farther back. Often he kept information about where he bought the coin so when you receive this tasty little morsel, you might find clippings from a prior auction or handwritten notes stating where and when he acquired the coin. Here's a similarly "not in prior BCD sales" coin I have and it came with old auction ephemera (I love that he kept it!):


PHLIASIA (PELOPONNESOS), Phlius
400-350 BC
AR obol, 11 mm, 0.84 gm
Obv: forepart of butting bull left
Rev: large Φ surrounded by four pellets
Ref: SNG Copenhagen 8-9
from Triskeles Auctions, Oct. 2013
ex BCD Collection, not in previous BCD sales.
Handwritten round tag and auction clipping indicates that BCD acquired this coin from Sotheby's, 26-27 May 1976, lot 88, for £55 + 10% VAT



BCD assembled the largest collection of mainland Greek coins in the 20th century. His meticulous cataloguing led to some of his collection becoming a standard catalogue reference (BCD Thessaly and BCD Peloponnesos, for example). The coins were dispersed via auctions and sales starting in the early 2000s. CNG has tons of his old coins and they selling them in every auction for many years.

BCD posts on CoinTalk from time to time. I wish he'd stop by more often because he has some wonderful stories!

I'm happy to have many former BCD coins. Here's another, the same type as your new coin:


ARKADIA, Arkadian League
340-330 BC, Megalopolis mint
AR Obol, 11 mm, 0.77 g
Obv: head of Pan left
Rev: large Arkadian League monogram; syrinx below
Ref: BCD Peloponnesos (Megalopolis) 1517-8; HGC 5, 930
ex BCD Collection. Ex Vinchon (11-13 April 1988), lot 463.

 

G'Day TIF,

Thanks for CNG link to my coin's post BCD collection auction.

Wow, that is one beautiful Megalopolis obol! The Phliasia obol is another beauty. The BCD ephemera is definitely a nice bit of added "frosting" for the coin.

There seems to be some amazing ephemera included with many BCD coins. I've read of some coins from the collection which include round, "life size" photos of the coin with collection details on the reverse.

It's the provenance of a coin that really "floats my boat." To discover how that object got to where it is at this moment in time is intriguing.

BCD... are you out there?

Thanks again,

Rob, FNQ,Au

 

Welcome and congrats, @Buffo Marinus! Now you own a coin pedigreed to two great collections! Nice holiday photos, btw.

I have an ex BCD ex stevex6 coin as well, the lowest rightmost coin pictured below in a small tray of ex BCD coins that I keep together with their tags and polaroids. Some did not have any polaroids, and the two Sikyon coins which were purchased from CNG did not come with the usual BCD tags.

 

G'Day Zumbly,

Very nice collection and display. Pictured are the individual photographs with notations that I have read about included with several of your coins. This is the first time I have actually seen examples of these.

I note that ""stevex6" doesn't participate in this forum anymore... is he still alive and well?

Also, concerning the mystery man "BCD"... some place I read that he is a Greek national with a keen interest in the ancient coinage of his country.

Just curious,

Rob, FNQ,Au

 

He is doing well and his cancer is in remission. He just decided to sell off his collection for personal reasons.

 

Thanks Bing, good to hear he's doing well. My best regards to the lad.

Cheers,

Rob, FNQ,Au

 

A little bit into this thread, BCD introduces himself and shares some information about his polaroids and tag notes. I'm still amazed by the effort that must have gone into all those little polaroid cutouts.

 

G'Day Zumbly,

Wow, thanks for the link to that past thread! A lot of my questions were answered. I also reckon that with the monicker "Basil", there is very little chance of BCD being a Greek National as I had once read.

 

Thanks for this. It was a sad day when Steve left us, I much liked his sparkling and stimulating contributions. I bought a few of his coins in the meantime, a.o. this stunning double strike of Constans, that you have seen several times.