Help with identification. Tiny gold coin ID’d as India fanam 0.12g

Part of a lot I purchased, the only info I have was on the 2x2 but I haven’t been able to find a matching image online. This is the smallest coin I’ve personally seen. Weight is 0.12g. I used an Ionian 1/48 stater to show just how tiny it is.

 

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Not a gold fanam of India, but instead a (very small fractional) gold namo coin of the Malay Peninsula, particularly south Thailand. They are typically attributed to the Srivijaya Empire which held sovereignty over ports of the Malay Peninsula from around 700-1300 AD with varying levels of rule and local conflict. The namo coins of the Srivijaya are particularly controversial, to say the least, amongst the ancient coins of the region. They were at once considered to be authentic, and then later called entirely fake and modern fantasies based on the later baht bullet coins of Thailand, but I think the loose consensus nowadays is that some namo coins are authentic and predate maybe 1500 AD but most were more recently produced, especially the gold issues, probably in the 1900s, by local jewelers and goldsmiths, much like the gold fanams actually. I would look at this piece with a pretty hesitant eye, due to the small size which to my knowledge is undocumented (they're usually quite a bit bigger). Still worth looking more into, for sure, but hopefully this gives you a bit of a jumping off point!

 

Awesome! Thank you so much for the in-depth response! That was quick!

 

I thought it could simply be a gold ornament/bead, but @TuckHard gave a great answer!

Which reminds me of these supposedly world's tiniest coin from the Vijayanagar kingdom, 1/10th Fanam, there are plenty on ebay and amazon for cheap, I was even once tempted to buy them as a lot but didn't follow through after some research showed me they could be just modern issues of a non-existing coin type!

 

I saw these when I was trying to find the OP coin. They were all in the sketchy "National Numismatic Certification" slabs.

 

Wow, that is small. @paddyman98 would be digging those up at a fast rate if we had them today. Can't imagine keeping track of such a small "coin" in pockets today.