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Greek Coin
View larger image © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery Additional ImagesClick on each image below to view at full size: |
Basic Information | Accession Number: | 1993C607 |
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Collection: | Antiquities - Ancient & Mediaeval Coins |
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Date: | 500 BC - 500 BC |
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Notes | This tiny silver coin from an unidentified mint in Ionia (the Aegean coast of modern Turkey) weighs only 0.18g. (An American cent weighs almost 14 times as much and a British penny almost 20 times). If small value coins are made out of a precious metal like silver, they have to be very tiny, which makes them difficult to use and easy to loose. This explains why the Greeks eventually
started making low value coins out of the much cheaper bronze.
| Ian Donal Finney Bequest, 1993. |
Further Information | Production Period: | Greek |
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Material(s): | Silver |
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Denomination: | 1/6th Obol |
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Currency: | Greece |
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Place of Origin: | Aegean Coast, Turkey |
Associated Places | | Dimensions | Diameter: | 5 mm |
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