Smallest ancient coins

These jars come with a foam insert that is soft and easily compresses but hold the item in place as you placed it. If the item is thick, you can cut it a bit to make the pressure less which is what I do for larger items like the Akragas 'teeth' that do not fit in paper envelopes well.

They come in several sizes with up to 50 jars in a box with foam insert. The ones I get locally also have a glass in cardboard lid over all the jars. The glass lid more than doubles the price to $12 as of ten years ago when I got mine. Most of mine are the 36 jar set but I got one 50 which fits small size cash in stacks so duplicates stay together. The obvious problem with these is that you only see one side of the coin unless you open them. Most people put a adhesive label on the outside of the jar but I made acid free paper 'doughnuts' using two circular punches I borrowed from my daughter who scrapbooks and has all the tools. My small silver has been in these for about 15 years now without my noticing problems (toning etc.) but I do not know if these are fully archival. I have not been back to the store where I got them for ten years so I do not know if they are still available but I see things online with the idea so I suspect they are a standard item for some use. I will need another if I buy another few coins since my four boxes are almost full now. If I can not find more that match, I can always evict the cash.

 

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My first thought is that this might be a contemporary copy from the East rather than from Athens itself. I have one in this class that I have cataloged as such but I am less than secure on where to draw these lines. Obols and fractions were made in several styles for a couple centuries and by several 'authorities' other than Athens. My 0.22g coin was my first tiny silver in 1989. I believe it started as a hemiobol but has lost a lot of mass to erosion, chipping, flaking etc.

 

@Orielensis I believe these containers are called gem jars.

Here is a link:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=gemstone+jars&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

 

Thank you, @dougsmit and @Clavdivs – that's very helpful! I'm going to shamelessly copy Doug's storage and labelling method for my "tinies."

 

I bought some Greek coins from a recent auction because I wanted some examples from this area in my collection.
I knew their sizes from the descriptions but seeing them in hand was a shock - in a good way.




The coin below, in the 2nd picture, has the diameter 23.75 mm so not a huge one.
The Ephesos bee looks huge but it's 11 mm.

 

Sorry, but I can't let the Greeks steal all the glory. Here are some Romans, though they don't win as absolute smallest.

Below are three FEL TEMP REPARATIO Falling horsemen imitations from Britain, each 6-7 mm diameter, resting on a proper early issue.



Below is one of these coins resting on the side of a Ptolemaic bronze drachma.



And finally resting on the face of the Ptolemaic.



SC

PS Spell check tried to change my FEL TEMP to FELT TIP....

 

Some more Greek Dinky Ones:


ARKADIA Tegea AR Tetartemorion 0.2g 6mm 423-400 BCE Helmeted Hd Athena Alea T within incuse BCD Peloponnesos War 1721 HGC 5



IONIA Teos AR tetartemorion 0.2g 6mm Hd griffin R mouth open - Quadripartite incuse SNG Turkey 602



Ionia Miletos AR Tetartemorion 5.6mm 0.21g Roaring Lion Hd - Bird Klein 430 SNG Kay 941



Aeolis Elaia AR Tetartemorion 460 BCE Athena L - Olive Wreath 7.8mm 0.16g SNG Cop 166

 

I see another Tetartemorion here so mine isn't lonely. Do you know what was the actual value of them back in those days? What could a person buy with one of those?
I can't imagine how did they keep them without losing them. When I opened the envelope today I was afraid I would lose one of them in the house.

 

I have 2 EL 1/92 Staters/ but this 1/32 Dukat 1700 Regensburg is 4mm .08g
AV 1/4 Fanam 1783 Maratha Confederacy/ Shah Alam II/ Mughal Emperor
.07g. 4.5mm.
Ionia/ Uncertain City State/ circa 625BC EL 1/92 StaterND
4mm. 0.18g.

 

Pardon my thought:

I wonder how many of these were swallowed - Greeks didn't have pockets, so they oft kept coins in their mouths.

 

Maybe they carried little coin purses/ like in the medieval times

 

The Smallest Ptolemaics are the ones from Jerusalem under Ptolemy I



Reference: Gitler & Lorber (2006), Group 4, #6 [8 listed]; TJC 32b. Die study by J-P Fontanille: YHD-37 Dies O5/R36 Workshop A (THIS) - as per Menorah Project:
https://www.menorahcoinproject.com/yhd-37.htm [24 Dec 2020].

- Broucheion

 

Yes i have

 

Etruria/ uncertain mint City
Struck circa 270-40BC
AV As ND mine is from Artemide Auction
3mm. 0.02g.
There are 3 specimens known/ seems these were put into dead peoples mouths upon burial??