I got this in a small bulk lot. I've never seen one before. It looks like a fourrée obol from Miletos. Although the surface is very dark, it looks like silver, and under a microscope you can see what appears to be a thin layer of metal covering the exposed bronze at around 3:00 on the obverse. How strange. Size is 9mm and the weight is 1.3g. Anyone ever seen one of these before?
I'm not sure what it is you find strange. An obol had enough buying power to yield a profit to a counterfeiter or mint employee on the 'take' and it is well known that people look more carefully at $100 bills than they do $1paper. The risk of discovery was lower. I would like to know what the smallest fourree is. Mine is larger than yours at 1.5g (a Persian siglos fraction possibly 1/3???). It is well made with thick silver. I have seen but do not have plated fractions of the Croesid bull and lion type. I would love a specialty collection of tiny fourrees but I am sure 99.99% of those made would have rotted to nothing long ago.