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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Valentinian, post: 3192415, member: 44316&quot;]How much does it weigh?</p><p><br /></p><p>The weights of hemiobols (1/2 obol), obols, tritetartemorions (3/4 obol), trihemiobols (3/2 obol), diobols (2 obols) and so similar that I am far from convinced all those denominations exist.</p><p><br /></p><p>Everyone agrees that the obol is 1/6 drachm. Usually drachms are large enough to have well-understood average weights. From this early period (&quot;c. 480-450 BC&quot;) of the OP coin, SNG Danish does not have large denominations from Kyme and the few larger AR coins of Kyme are dated &quot;c. 350-250 BC&quot; (Might weights change in 100 years?) and center around about 1.9 grams, with wide variation. They must be hemidrachms. Take 1/3 of that and you get a theoretical obol of 0.63 grams, more or less (at Kyme, different at other locations depending upon their weight standards). So, if you have a coin of 0.30 grams you call it a hemiobol. So far so good. The coins in SNG Danish that look like the OP coin are 0.36, 0.45, and 0.50 grams.&nbsp; Here is mine:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]824464[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>8 mm. 0.49 grams.</p><p>Sear Greek 4174. &quot;c. 450&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>The six in SNG Turkey I are 0.34 to 0.49 grams. von Aulock&#039;s is 0.45 grams. Klein&#039;s is 0.47 grams and called a hemiobol there. Rosen has two at 0.47 and 0.41 grams. Weber has one called a hemiobol at 0.49 grams.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, what are we to make of these weights. Are there two denominations that look almost identical? Hemiobols with wide variation? Trihemibols? Obols that are light? (After all there is some work involved in making them; they are not just bullion. Do we expect six obols to melt down to the weight of a drachm?)</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Obol&quot; is a well-attested term in the literature. My gut feeling is that these are all simply light obols, not hemiobols. The idea that the Greeks distinguished nearly identical coins of 0.63 and 0.48 grams (3/4 of 0.63 grams) seems wrong to me. I do not support the idea of tritetartemorions existing.</p><p><br /></p><p>I accept that hemiobols exist. If weights at some city show a cluster at, say, 0.70 grams and 0.35 grams, that is evidence of a denomination and its half. But if weights do not cluster, the evidence is diminished. We know that many ancient cities used the same type on different denominations. It is hard to tell the weight of a lion/boar fraction of Kyzicus by looking at it. You can find them at 0.80, 0.40, and 0.24 grams and other weights, suggesting three denominations. How did the man in the street know what he was spending?</p><p><br /></p><p>If a tiny coin denomination &quot;should&quot; weigh 0.63 grams and a coin weighs 0.49 instead, must it be another denomination?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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