Smallest ancient coins

this arrived today. Definitely the smallest coin I own at 5mm. Head of roaring lion from Greece. Does anyone have smaller?

 

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Possibly but 'smaller' in the 5mm class is very much a matter of opinion. Thickness varies a lot so there are 5mm coins that weigh half of other 5mm coins. Many of these are field finds and have lost material to corrosion and cleaning so there are 4mm coins that started out as 5mm coins. Then there are unround coins that have diameters from 4 to 6mm which may or may not be smaller than 5mm depending on your angle. There are modern Indian gold pieces smaller but I don't collect modern coins so I don't count them. Neither do I collect electrum coins that currently are flooding the market so I don't know all the available types and sizes. Finally we have to ask if we will allow 'coins' with no design or just a few marks to compete with detailed types. All things considered, my best little coin is below.

Phocaea, Ionia - Silver 1/8 obol? - Late Sixth Century BC - 5mm, .1g
Female head 'Smyrna type' left / 4 part incuse - Rosen 598

Assuming your measuring devices are accurate, your coin is a worthy little lion. Most of that type I have seen were 6mm+.

I have a page showing several other 'Tiny Treasures'.
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/tiny.html

 

Amazing detail for such a small coin, lovely.
Yes I think coin should have detail on it and less wear the better.
Fantastic article on tiny coins also, thanks for sharing. It's amazing that they could even stamp these tiny pieces of silver! My lions head 5mm I don't know too much about, have only recently started collecting Greeks.
Thanks for your sharing!

 

Nice coin, I think from the city of Miletos or Mylasa.

I am astonished by the miniature art on these tiny coins, in this case the helmeted Athena.


Uncertain mint in Western Asia Minor, probably Troas, Lampsakos. AR Tetartemorion (4th century B.C).
Obverse: Head of Apollo left, wearing taenia.
Reverse: Helmeted head of Athena left within incuse sqaure.
Reference: Unpublished in the standard references.
0.16g; 7mm

It is 7mm but very very thin.

 

I have several Tetartemorions. Here are some:


Ionia AR Tetartemorion 4mm 0.13g 530-500 BCE Rosette - Incuse sq punch 5 pellets SNG von Aulock 1807



ASIA MINOR Uncertain mint AR Tetartemorion Lion - Incuse 5mm 0.13g



CILICIA Uncertn Early-mid 4th C BCE AR Tetartemorion 5mm 0.17g Persian king running dagger and bow - Crowned hd Achaemenid king CNG E239 Troxell Kagan 4



Iona Kolophon AR Tetartemorion 530-520 BCE Archaic Apollo Incuse Punch 0.15g 4.5mm- SNG Kayhan 343 Left old



Uncert West Asia Minor Karia 5th C BC AR tetartemorion 5mm 0.15g Female - Frprt Bull man r Kayhan 968 exc rght

 

I have two recent additions that quite small (but won't beat any records)..



Mysia, Kyzikos. Circa 510-475 BC. AR Obol (0.79 gm, 9mm/13mm).
Obv.: Forepart of boar l.; behind, tunny. Rev.: Head of lion l. in incuse square.



AEOLIS, KYME
AR Hemiobol
OBVERSE: Eagle's head left, KY to left (M beneath the head, nearly off flan)
REVERSE: Quad incuse square
Struck at Aeolis, 450BC
.47g, 7.7mm

 

AEOLIS, KYME
AR Hemiobol
OBVERSE: Eagle's head left, KY to left (M beneath the head, nearly off flan)
REVERSE: Quadrapartite incuse square of mill-sail pattern
Struck at Aeolis, 450BC
.46g, 7mm
SNG Cop 32

 

I find it interesting that 5mm seems to be the lower limit that few manage to break through, and of those that are smaller than 5mm, I have never seen one that isn't a simple or schematized design, like the "Rosette" type from Ionia that @Alegandron shared.

My smallest (and supposedly the smallest ever?) is the purported "bele" from South India, said to be a 1/10 fanam from Vijayanagar. I have heard that these may be modern creations, so take the attribution with a grain of salt. I got a half dozen of them in a lot with some nice Mysore fanams a couple years ago, so no sweat if they aren't genuine coins. Mine ranged from about 2-3mm and registered as 0.00g on my jewelry scale - I think they optimally weigh 0.04g

Old photo with size comparison to a Mysore Fanam (5mm), Soloi tetartemorion (5mm), Ionia diobol, Kyzikos hemiobol, and a US dime

 

My tetartemorion. The smallest denomination in the Attic standard is the Hemitartemorion, which is half the weight of the tetartemorion. I believe it would be a challenge to handle this money on a windy day.

 

Agreed. I am amazed at my 4.5mm Archaic Apollo (breaking the 5mm threshold), with a reasonably intricate design:


Iona Kolophon AR Tetartemorion 530-520 BCE Archaic Apollo Incuse Punch 0.15g 4.5mm- SNG Kayhan 343 Left old

 

Mine is 0.16g and 5mm but I show it with the anchor the other way up in recognition of the barely visiable A in the left field. It is not much of a legend but in the 5mm class one letter is a lot.

 

And that is the correct way to show the anchor on Apollonia Pontica coins, of course.
That tetartemorion was actually one of my first Greek coins, and I didn’t know up from down with them. That’s still the case with islamic coins.

 

Some of the early electrum coins are extremely small.I picked up this lot recently :


IONIA. Uncertain mint. Circa 625-600 BC.
1/24 Stater (Electrum, 6.5 mm, 0.59 g), Phokaic standard.
1/48 Stater (Electrum, 3.2 mm, 0.3 g), Phokaic standard.

Raised clockwise swastika pattern.
Rev. Quadripartite incuse square of swastika pattern

It is interesting that the smaller coin is exactly half the width as well as half the weight of the larger.
1/96 staters also exist - diameter 1.6 mm, although I don't have an example myself.

 

Lovely coins. Not quite as tiny as some of those, but I have 10 of these small indian coins from Aryavarta (Northern India) of King Ganapati Naga, 335-340 AD. Interestingly, although they are all around 7-9mm diameter, their thickness varies greatly. This one weighs in at 1.67g while my lightest/thinnest one is 0.73g.

 

I personally consider everything up to the size of an obol (that means smaller than 12mm and lighter than 1g) a "tiny coin." There are days when I seriously think about building a specialized subcollection of such "tiny coins." Though this in my opinion would be a supercool idea for an affordable ancient collecting theme, I didn't do it yet, mostly because I'm always a bit afraid of accidentally loosing or breaking coins smaller than my pinky fingernail...


Gaul, Massalia, AR obol, ca. 4th–1st century BC. Obv: Youthful male head (river god?) left. Rev: MA in wheel with four spokes. 10mm, 0.75g. Ref: SNG Copenhagen 723–728; de la Tour 1892, no. 689 or similar. Ex Marc Breitsprecher.


Ionia, Milet, AR 1/12 stater, late 6th – early 5th c. BC. obv: forepart of roaring lion l. Rev: stellate pattern in incuse. 9.5mm, 0.85g. Ref: SNG Kayhan 476–482; SNG Copenhagen 955–951. Ex Harlan J. Berk, IL.


Lycaonia, Laranda, AR obol, 324–323 BC. Obv: Baal Tars seated on throne n.l., holding grain ears and grapes in r. hand and sceptre in l. hand. Rev: forepart of wolf r., in field l., ⌒. 10mm, 0.59g. Göktürk: Small Coins from Cilicia (2000), no. 82 ff.; SNG Levante 223 (for Cilicia); SNG France 443 (for Cilicia).


Mysia, Kyzikos, AR hemiobol (?), c. 480–450 BC. Obv: roaring lion’s head l.; star above. Rev: forepart of boar l.; tunny behind. 8mm, 0.25g. Ref: BMC 120; Sear Greek 3850.


Thessaly, Larissa AR obol, ca. 344–337 BC (?). Obv: head of the nymph Larissa facing slightly l., hair in ampyx, with necklace. Rev: [ΛΑΡΙΣ]-ΑΙΩΝ; horse grazing r. 11mm, 0.79g. Ref: BCD Thessaly I (2011), no. 1163; BCD Thessaly II (2013), no. 328, 342–344; SNG Copenhagen 135. Ex FSR, auction 106, lot 59; ex CNG, e-auction 395, lot 94; ex BCD collection.

 

For proper perspective, you sometimes have to take things with a grain of s̶a̶l̶t̶ rice.



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

 

I keep all my Greek coins smaller than 10mm in plastic tubs meant for rock specimens rather than paper envelopes I use for the rest. This is partly to avoid them getting lost in huge paper and partly because my daughter wants them when I am gone but all the huge coins will be disposed of out of the family. She will then have a decent representation (about 100 today) of silver 'Tiny Treasures'. In some cases I have two or three related coins in a tub.

 

Doug, may I ask how you prevent them from rattling around in the tubs and possibly getting damaged by this? This is my biggest concern when it comes to putting small ancient coins in plastic capsules. With my bracteate collection, I solve this problem by placing a small piece of a cosmetic cotton pad under the coin, but with "tiny coins," this method doesn't seem practical since they tend to soon slip off the cotton pad.

Also, I can fully understand why your "tiny treasures" appeal to your daughter!

 

A few have already been posted, but here are my tiny ancients:


GREECE, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Tetartemorion, minted: Ionia, Kolophon; c500-450 BC. Obv: Facing head of Apollo;Rev: TE monogram (= tetartemorion?) within incuse square. Weight: 0.17g; Ø:5mm. Catalogue: SNG Von Aulock 1999, SNG Kayhan 356. Provenance: Ex. v. Eldijk col; acq.: 12-2019 GREECE, Anonymous. Denomination: AR hemiobol, minted: Athens; 454-404 BC (?) Obv: Head of Athena, to the right. Rev: Owl, standing;Weight: 0.33g; Ø:5mm. Catalogue: ?. Provenance: Ex. v. Eldijk col; acq.: 12-2019
GREECE, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Tetartemorion, minted: Mysia. Kyzikos; c.480 BC Obv: Forepart of boar left, tunny to right; Rev: Head of roaring lion left, star to upper left, all within incuse square. Weight: 0.17g; Ø:5mm. Catalogue: Von Fritze II 14; SNG France 375. Provenance: Ex. v. Eldijk col; acq.: 12-2019

To appreciate the size (with my moderately sized finger for scale):


I would appreciate a more definite ID of the second coin, from Athens.