Part of my hobby and study of tetartera includes imitations of these small coppers. Imitations were mostly created in the 13th century when the Empire was overrun by the Latins in 1203. The denomination was important to Greece and when they stopped making them imitations occurred, strangely many of these were created based on coins issued by rulers who had died 50 to 75 years earlier. I have numerous examples, normally they have simple mistakes and are low in weight. Normally the simpler the issue it was a candidate to be imitated. I just acquired this coin, one of the crudest issues I have seen, not normal for an imitation. The coin feels 500 years older this seems to be the closest match. Manuel I. Komnenos, 1143-1180 AE-Tetarteron local supplement Vs.: Emperor stands with crown, long cross and cross globe v. v., Rs.: Cross monogram probably unpublished; See Sear 1979; Doc 22 2.57 g. RR wide, black patina, ss-vz Here is the coin they were trying to duplicate, this example is my favorite. MANUEL AE HALF TETARTERON S-1979 DOC 22 CLBC 4.4.11 OBV Large, often ill formed letters REV Bust of emperor, beardless, wearing stemma, divitision, collar piece ( Most frequently decorated with 6 jewels) and paneled loros of simplified type; holds in r. hand labarum on long shaft and in l. Globus cruciger. Size 17.33mm Weight 2.59 gm This is a Thessalonica minted coin, it contains no silver. It is believed to be valued at 1/864 Hyperpyron and the Metropolitan (Constantinople) issues at 1/288 Hyperpyron.The half tetartera at 1/1728 Hyperpyron. These coins are much more common than Metropolitan coins and very abundant in today’s marketplace. This coin is good Very fine, a near perfect example, lightly circulated. I believe this to be a perfect example. DOC lists 27 examples with weights ranging from 1.10gm to 2.96 gm with sizes from 14mm to 18mm. I keep a separate Album of imitation coins, most are from Alexius and Manuel. https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=6572 This is just another puzzle regarding this popular Byzantine denomination. Share your imitations, Byzantine or Roman or other.
With coin in hand I would say no, it has several small specks but I will keep an eye on it regardless.
