Fun fact: The Ancient Greeks kept coins in their mouths because they didn't have pockets. Imagine what mouths your ancient Greek coin has been in!
I'm no dentist but I play one on Coin Talk. Can you see tooth marks on the obverse of this Athenian obol? Fantasy, perhaps, but fun.
I don't see the practice as a substitute for a coin purse but for carrying one or two coins for a purpose like paying the miller in this example. I thought there was another reference where the bumpkin was ridiculed for being so afraid of being robbed that he never made it to market without swallowing his coins making it necessary to postpone shopping for a few days until they passed. The practice certainly would not survive the end of tiny silvers. It would work much better for obols than for drachms. The matter of Charon's obol is completely unrelated and has no place here. I strongly disagree with the opinion that things should be discounted because they were said in comedies. Evidence of culture are much more likely to be recorded when making fun than in serious works. You will not find a Greek text on the history of the coin purse. The fact that Aristophanes felt no need to explain how one might swallow an obol is good evidence that people would understand having coins in the mouth. Nothing will ever be proven.
i could totally see someone putting a small coin or two in their mouth to avoid having someone take it. just don't over do it... how many of our coins were swallowed and....recovered?
So some of those discovered hordes could have been at an ancient equivalent to an interstate truck stop?
