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NEWPS: The Smallest Electrum
SmEagle1795
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I've been working on fleshing out my "denomination set" of early electrum. I have several of these denominations represented in multiple examples now (as there were particular types I was looking to acquire) but this is a surprisingly tough set to put together, especially when looking for the smallest coins.
I still am missing the hemi and full stater, the latter of which being one of the more common denominations. I just haven't found the "right" coin yet but am still searching.
The farthest left coin is my smallest, a 1/192 electrum stater, weighing 0.07 grams. It's a die match to one CNG sold a few years ago as a new discovery piece, making mine the second or third known, and completing my denomination set up to a trite.
The diameter of these coins is extremely small but the truly incredible attribute is their weight, with the 1/192 and 1/96 being imperceptible and the 1/48th just barely registering on my palm.
And their standalone images, taken with my camera (the above were taken with my phone):
1/192:
1/96:
1/48:
1/24:
1/6:
1/3:
Post your small electrum!
I still am missing the hemi and full stater, the latter of which being one of the more common denominations. I just haven't found the "right" coin yet but am still searching.
The farthest left coin is my smallest, a 1/192 electrum stater, weighing 0.07 grams. It's a die match to one CNG sold a few years ago as a new discovery piece, making mine the second or third known, and completing my denomination set up to a trite.
The diameter of these coins is extremely small but the truly incredible attribute is their weight, with the 1/192 and 1/96 being imperceptible and the 1/48th just barely registering on my palm.
And their standalone images, taken with my camera (the above were taken with my phone):
1/192:
1/96:
1/48:
1/24:
1/6:
1/3:
Post your small electrum!
Learn about our world's shared history told through the first millennium of coinage: Colosseo Collection
7
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and a denom set of electrums, good lord that is awesome
You could get one of those hollowed out compartment coins and keep them all inside of it!
I don't know much about these, were they all circulating at approximately the same time?
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--Severian the Lame
The first one looks like my dental crown though...
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- These coins are indeed all roughly contemporary, with the helmet 1/24th stater the "youngest", all between 650-550BC.
- They were generally found in groups, so the smallest among them would still be seen as a coin. I imagine many of them were simply dropped and lost to the ground, or eventually melted assuming it was just a very small fleck of gold.
- It is difficult to correlate ancient purchasing power but the largest coin, a trite, is generally thought to have been worth about a month's salary, although some place it higher (up to about 10 sheep's worth). If it's a month, and a month is approximately $2000, the ancient value of the smallest would be about $30, still a substantial sum. These coins were generally not used for day-to-day transactions because of the significant value but rather were used to pay larger debts (accumulated by maintaining a tab at businesses) and for governmental transactions.
Thanks again!
<< <i>SmEagle, that is an impressive collection! Nice work on putting together a lovely type set. Good luck on your remaining pieces! >>
How they could ever manage to make artwork from something so tiny, without modern tools, baffles me.
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Hey @SmEagle1795 ! Hey buddy!
Did you ever complete this series?
I might have been throwing back a few cold ones when I bid on this monster 1/24th stater.
But I thought it looked ridiculous / cool (or ridiculously cool) in the hand-auguer slab
--Severian the Lame
Nice Weiss. Real nice.
@SmEagle1795 that's so impressive.
These little coins are remarkable. They always remind me of this and it make me smile
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Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
That's a great piece, @Weiss ! There's a ton of history wrapped up in these tiny electrum molar fillings. I somehow have still not managed to buy a hemi-stater but I have added a couple full staters in the intervening years since my original post. So, the set is larger but still incomplete:
This is an electrum stater of Lampsakos, found in Smyrna in 1874 and published a number of times starting in 1907:
OMG @SmEagle1795. That is a stunner. The detail is extraordinary. And the color, too. What an absolutely gem of a coin.
--Severian the Lame
Cool thread!
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The comparison shots tell it all. Thanks for sharing 👍.
A very interesting and educational thread. Thanks for posting!
no words - really beautiful set, and want to start seeking out electrum pieces the more I see & learn about them