Tiny Teos Tetartemorion

I shared two of my largest Greek silver coins in a thread a few weeks ago and thought that for contrast I would now post my smallest.

This tiny archaic tetartemorion (quarter obol) may be rough and crystallized, but the details of the griffin's head are well-preserved for a coin that's under 5mm wide and is 2,500 years old.

Understandably, these miniscule Greek silver fractions don't sell for big bucks, but it still boggles the mind that collectors care so little for them that one can pick them up for $10 flat.

Feel free to share your tiny coins!


IONIA, Teos
AR Tetartemorion
0.14g, 4.7mm
Circa 540-478 BC
Cf. CNG 63, lot 506
O: Head of griffin left.
R: Quadripartite incuse square with raised central pellet.

For perspective, here's the coin beside a grain of rice.

 

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That is an amazing coin! I cannot fathom how small that would be in hand.

 

I'm not the owner of particularly large hands .

 

Very nice! These little ones are just so fascinating to me...just as much as the big ones... I need to get some pictures of my smallest with something else, like you did with the rice. It's hard to appreciate them in a photo that offers no perspective.

 

$10? I've been looking for a Teos griffin head fractional but have never seen one that good for that little. Great score!

The both size comparison photos are very dramatic.

My tiniest, shown many times and soon to be joined by a brother:


MACEDON, uncertain
c. 500 BCE
AR trihemitetartemorion (trihemiobol), 5 mm, 0.26 gm
Obv: monkey squatting left
Rev: round shield or pellet within incuse square
Ref: "Uncertain Thraco-Macedonian Coins, Part II", Nomismatika Khronika (1998), 67

Also shown many times, my largest and smallest coins (48 mm and 5 mm)



And a cautionary tale: do not drop these tiny buggers! It took thirty minutes to find the monkey after dropping it on Berber carpet.


(The coin is in this picture. Starting at the bottom right and going left, count to the seventh "ditch"; the coin is resting on edge about two-thirds of the way up the ditch.)

 

Love those little Greek coins.

My smallest is a 2.5 mm Gold 1/4 Fanam (India)
Here it is alongside a 1883 silver Morgan Dollar (photo enlarged)

 

I have not added any new ones for a while but still like my Tiny Treasures from my webpage.

Left row:
1. Syracuse, Sicily, hemilitron 440-430 BC, .3g
2. Athens, Attica, tritartemorion (3/4 obol), 393-300 BC, .5g
3. Therma, Macedon, hemiobol (1/2 obol), 510-480 BC, .3g
4.. Kolophon, Ionia, tetartemorion (1/4 obol), 430-400 BC, .2g - This coin is unusual in the monogram 'TE' on the reverse (over the cicada) indicating the denomination.
5. Kebren, Troas, tetartemorion (1/4 obol), 400-350 B.C. .2g

Right Row:
1. Phocaea, 1/8? obol
2. Mylassa, Caria, tetartemorion? (1/4 obol), 5th century BC, .1g
3. Hektatomnos, Satrap of Caria, tetartemorion 395-377 B.C., .2g
4. Syracuse, Sicily, Tyrant Gelon, hexas (1/6 litra or 1/300th of the popular dekadrachm), 485-478 BC, .05g? This is the lightest coin I have ever seen but the flaking surface of this specimen makes its weight lower than normal.
5. Rhegion, Bruttium, hemitatemorion (1/8 obol), 466-415 BC, .1g.
Thasos, Thrace, hemiobol (1/2 obol), 411-350 BC, .2g

Worst of my group is my Athenian tetartemorion. The off center obverse leaves only helmet and makes it ugly but it is one I always wanted. I really want the one half this size (1/8 obol) but have not seen one offered.

 

The last time I played spot the monkey coin on TIF's carpet, I believe I couldn't find it. This time, I have... hurray!

Seriously, when I was trying to take a close up picture of my coin, I was afraid to inhale too deeply. I have taken pills that are several times larger!

 

Crystallized? That's OK. Love it. Still a wonder how they did it.

 

Terrific addition 'Z' and mind-boggling posts one and all!!!

It always astounds me to imagine coins so incredibly tiny....

 

Incuse styled coins are growing on me. Very small and cool piece Z.

 

Likely we may never know.

 

Love the tray!!!

 

Here's my recent pickup. Not as nice as yours.


Mysia, Kyzikos (450-400 BC), AR Hemiobol, Forepart of boar left, tunny behind / Head of lion left, within incuse square. BMC 117 (variation). AR5-7mm, .18g. This example chipped as shown. There are many variations of this issue and key elements are missing on this example, making exact attribution impossible.

 

Roman9: Really decent detail on that lion.

 

The most tiny tiny coin silver I have is from....where is it now..oooo there...a piece of a tritetartemorion from Emporitana Spain/Emporium, in plastic or else I loose it.....see the winged creature on the reverse.

 

some other picturssss, number 222

 

I almost forgot...My tiniest (and sole example) ---but HUGE compared to almost all posted here---- Satyr and Amphora:

 

what a great little coin Z, and that picture with the grain of rice is amazing.

10 bucks!? that's a super price!

here's my smallest coin at 7 mm...



Magnesia, Ionia. c. 400 BC
Obv. Laureate head of Apollo left. Rev. Cuirass, M - A in fields. SNG Kayhan 393. 7 mm 0.5g

 

Hi, Chris.
Sorry. Just worked it out. A bit early in the morning for me.