What's the smallest coin you own? Pardon the Darkside venturing...
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lkenefic
Posts: 8,169 ✭✭✭✭✭
I was recently sent this small change purse... lo and behold... a small coin was inside of it. A 1 1/2 Pence Victoria Britannia dated 1839. A cursory Google search let me know that it's not rare (mintage 760,000) but I still give a smile every time I get a silver coin... The small size was stunning. I though the 3CS was about as small a coin as could be reasonable minted... but apparently not! Post your "small" change.
Collecting: Dansco 7070; Middle Date Large Cents (VF-AU); Box of 20;
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A California 25 cent gold token. I bought one as a minor piece of history although I don't like most of these pieces because I think they were only made to sell to "tourists."
Princess Kaiulani 10mm gold
Not quite as unique as the others posted before me, but it's my smallest.
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
As of modern/semi modern it would be an 1800 George III maundy penny (12 mm - 0,5 gr)
Collector
75 Positive BST transactions buying and selling with 45 members and counting!
instagram.com/klnumismatics
I have a Panama Pill somewhere. I will pics later.
Oddly enough, I reviewed a collection one time that was completely disorganized, contained scraps of paper with shopping lists on it, old holiday cards and a small hoard of Bicentennial coinage that was apparently removed from circulation just after it was minted; but inside that cardboard box was a small, disintegrating purse that contained eleven (if I recall correctly) one dollar gold pieces tucked inside.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
These are all smaller than a dime
🎶 shout shout, let it all out 🎶
3 cent silver is 14mm (0.551”)
Exactly 100 years older than me and doing a helluva lot better.
In 1904, the US acquired the Panama Canal project from a failed French effort. As a result, the US produced coinage for use in Panama.
The coinage of 1904 was silver and based on the Centimo which included 2-1/2, 5, 10, 25, and 50 Centesimos coins. The coins were produced using the US standard of .900 fine silver, and featured the portrait of Vasco Nunes de Balboa on the obverse and the Panamanian coat of arms on the reverse.
The 2-1/2 Centesimos weighed in at 1.25 grams and measured a tiny 10 millimeters, making it the smallest coin produced by the US and the smallest government authorized coin in circulation in the Americas.
Because of its tiny size, it was often comically referred to as a pill or Panama Pill.
--Severian the Lame
My smallest coin is a "Panama Pill", 2-1/2 centesimos. It happens to be the smallest silver coin ever manufactured by a US mint. Diameter, 10mm. ASW, .0362 oz.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.-Albert Einstein
Probably shouldn't store those in with your aspirin...
When I first read this, I didn't know if you were referring to a coin with a very small diameter or a very small face value. I don't have anything in diameter smaller than a 3 cent silver, but I do have a very small face value coin, which is a "One Tenth of a Penny" from British West Africa.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
No reference photo but it is pretty small. Also a very nice coin IMHO.
I have one of these, it is 13mm in diameter
One of my smallest and nearly the oldest.
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
Travancore chuckram, next to a Panama Pill.
Came either from a Cheerios box or gumball machine, when I was a kid. Can't remember which.......It's only 14mm in diameter.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
--Severian the Lame
Netherlands Indies 1/8 Stuiver 1825
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
Here is yet another Panama Pill, a beautifully toned ANACS MS66.
1854 3CS MPD FS-301 PCGS AU58 CAC
Diameter: 14.30 millimeters
Weight: 0.75 grams
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The smallest US coin is the Type I gold dollar at 13mm. The lightest US coin is the Type 2 & 3 silver 3 cent coin at 0.75 grams.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
This helps a lot. Thanks. I knew my smallest was either my 1849 gold $1 or 1847 Half Dime. I had one to measure but the other was not available.
Looks like my 1849 Gold Dollar is my smallest. So, no photos to post. It was one of those coins the dealer got in, knew I would buy it, and didn't take any pictures of it.
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$5 Type Set https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/u-s-coins/type-sets/half-eagle-type-set-circulation-strikes-1795-1929/album/344192
CBH Set https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/everyman-collections/everyman-half-dollars/everyman-capped-bust-half-dollars-1807-1839/album/345572
This is my smallest one. I have no idea what it is. It came with some ancients I bought in bulk once a long time ago.
Looks like it could be a widow's mite. Can we get a pic of the reverse?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Sure, here it is.
Here’s my widows mite. Tuff to tell
🎶 shout shout, let it all out 🎶
Here is my smallest. Seems rather large now compared to some of the other coins posted in here.
...and now, the rest of the story...
The change purse was sent to me by my sister. I asked my brother about the coin and he remembered it from years ago. Apparently, it was brought over to this country when my ancestors immigrated from Ireland in 1845 to escape the Potato Famine. I guess it's been "hung on to" ever since...
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My wife showed me a 1980 Krugerrand that was 8.3mm in diameter. We put it on our scale and it was so thin it never registered any weight! We tried to look it up but to no avail.
It's not quite 3/8" in diameter at it's widest point.
Steve
I have a 3 cent silver coin that looks VF that I'd like to unload at the next coin show I attend. It was in a bunch of coins a friend wanted me to evaluate and it's so small, it hurts my eyes to look at it.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
There were a slew of miniature krugerrands, St. Gaundens, and other famous gold "tribute" coins made in the 1980s and sold through magazine ads. Good chance yours is one of these. Nominal value--some were really low karat gold--but still kind of neat.
--Severian the Lame
This tiny gold coin is possibly the smallest modern machine-struck coin ever made.
Guatemala 4 Reales 1860
Obverse: Rafael Carrera facing right / RAFAEL CARRERA P. DE LA R. DE GUATEMALA
Reverse: Wreath / 4 REALES 1860 / 21 Q R
Gold, 9mm, 0.83gm, 0.875 fine
The obverse has "FRENER F." under the bust but it is hard to read. Jean-Baptiste Frener was a Swiss engraver who lived in Guatemala from 1854 to 1897. He worked at the mint in Guatemala City.
The reverse "21 Q" is 21 Quilates (21 karat or 21/24 or 0.875 gold). The "R" is mint assayer Rafael Romaña. Many coin catalogs treat the "R" as a mint mark.
The original value was 4 reales or one-half peso, the equivalent of one-half US dollar. The coin is close in size to the little California fractional gold coins. It is smaller than the US silver three-cent piece and the "Panama Pill" 1904 2-1/2 centavos.
Rafael Carrera was a peasant and soldier who rose to power during the first part of the 19th century. He was President of Guatemala from 1854 to 1865 and managed to keep Guatemala independent of Mexico. He also instituted the coffee-growing industry there. Rafael Carrera died on April 14, 1865.
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
Coins on Television
I don't know. The aspirin would be quite handy during the heart attack you get from realizing you just swallowed a "Panama Pill."
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
At least the panamas won't clatter against each other, because they are buffered.
At 2.96mm and 0.063 grams, this is the winner:
https://www.dw.com/en/switzerland-puts-einstein-on-worlds-smallest-gold-coin/a-52117187
Panama pill is the smallest for me also.
Agree. I have one similarly sized, if not smaller, and if I recall correctly it is from Ancient Greece with Ionia on the label. The dealer I acquired it from claimed that it was of a type that was the oldest known gold coin.
As others have shown, I have a type 1 gold dollar….
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This was actually in a penny roll!
Steve,
I like this coin A LOT!!
Beautiful small coins!
Should there be smaller slabs for these?