Yet Another Forum Game - Numismatic Go Fish!

Post your smallest gold coin minted for circulation. Mexican gold dos pesos (smaller than a gold US dollar).

Or me and once again I lose by 1 vote.

Every vote counts.

United States 1 dollar 15mm

Looking like a good start!

I don't know what it is about me and gold. I have friends who collect it and are forever trying to get me into it, but the only gold I have is a 9ct ring on my finger with a tiny diamond.

You get so much more from silver, more value and more interesting coins used by people rather than potentates. I have owned gold coins in the past and they have just never given me the buzz that silver does. Tiny half sovereigns do not hold the appeal of a chunky and juicy Halfcrown.

J1M - Go for it, they did not state what percentage gold the coin had to be!

Southern India apparently had a glut of gold bullion compared to silver or copper, so from the time they began using coins following the rise of the Chola dynasty in the medieval period, it was common for many transactions to be conducted with tiny gold fanams, weighing about 0.35g and ranging in size from 5-10mm. I've read that one fanam was worth about a day's labor for a farmhand.

My smallest:

Mysore
Krishnaraja Wodeyar III
1794-1864
0.34g, 5mm




There are even smaller gold "coins" attributed as a fractional fanam or "bele", although I have heard some concerns that these may not be coins at all, and could be fantasy pieces. It won't even register on my scale; nominal weight is 0.04g and size ranges from 2-3mm. Lacking a scale photo next to a dime, but next to another 5mm Krishnaraja fanam: