Twins...

[quant.geek]

As someone who lived through the 80s, the movies during this time period was some of the best.  This included the Back to the Future Trilogy and Twins. Twins stared Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito as twins as unlikely as that can be.  A hilarious film that is worth watching:

 

In our hobby, there are several empires/countries that issued twin coins that look identical, but are different in size. I already posted some of the Thessalonika Trachys of John Comnenus Ducas in another post. However, I thought it would be nice to add some other twins in a general post.  Below is the ubiquitous Raja Raja Chola kahavanu (Octupus coins in laymen terms) coins that are frequently found, but what is not common is the even smaller denominations that started to be issued late in the Empire.  The following coin is a 1/4 kahavanu of Raja Raja II. It is next to its grand daddy coin for size comparison:

 

 

So go ahead and post your odd twins, or anything else you like...

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by quant.geek

[shanxi]

Wu Zhu Coins

regular Wu Zhu

Obv: Wu Zhu, half moon below the hole
Rev: empty
Value: 5 Zhu
AE, 3.02g, 26mm
Ref: Hartill 8.10, S258

 

and the small one, together with the coin above: (same value !)

Ji Mu Wu Zhu
Obv: Wu Zhu
Rev: empty
Value: 5 Zhu
AE, 0.62g, 12mm.
Ref: Hartill 10.29, FD 597, S208
Very small Wu Zhu coins with clear writing, also found in Western Han tombs.
Normal Wu Zhu coin for comparison.

 

Edited September 30, 2022 by shanxi

[sand]

There were some good films in the 1980s. Some of my favorites : Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981), Blade Runner (1982), Brainstorm (1983), The Navigator : A Medieval Odyssey (1988).

Here's an obvious pair of different sized twins, in my collection.

The Smaller Coin

Alexander III The Great Posthumous Issue AR Drachm. 323 BC to 280 BC. Uncertain Mint In Western Asia Minor. Price 2733. Diameter = 16 mm. Weight = 4.16 grams. Obverse Heracles In Lion Skin. Reverse Zeus On Throne.

The Larger Coin

Alexander III The Great Posthumous Issue AR Tetradrachm. 280 BC to 200 BC. Odessos Mint. Price 1163. Diameter = 28 mm. Weight = 16.74 grams. Obverse Heracles In Lion Skin. Reverse Zeus On Throne.

Edited September 29, 2022 by sand

[ambr0zie]

For Roman Imperials this is possible

[zumbly]

An Aegina stater with its mini-me, a hemiobol...

 

ATTICA, Aegina
AR Stater. 12.12g, 21.1mm
ATTICA, Aegina, circa 480-456 BC. SNG Cop 507.  
O: Sea turtle; [T shaped pattern of pellets on back]; Countermarks: Corinthian helmet and others.  
R: Large square incuse with skew pattern.

ATTICA, Aegina
AR Hemiobol. 0.52g, 7mm.
ATTICA, Aegina, circa 480-457 BC. SNG Cop 512-3; HGC 6, 453; SNG Delepierre 1521.
O: Cutest little sea turtle ever.
R: Large square incuse with skew pattern.
Ex E.E. Clain-Stefanelli Collection

[dougsmit]

A problem with frame filling photos of coins is that we lose some reference to the size of the coin.  This thread requires shooting coins together to make the point but I did not do that.  If I did, I would probably included the tetradrachm version of Alexander the Great to this drachm and obol but that would have been triplets.  A sequel to the movie might have to include as merge with other movies.  What if Arnold and Danny were joined by a precocious child (obol) and an Incredible Hulk grade giant (dekadrachm)? 

Drachm:

 

Obol:

 

Athens would be the best series for this purpose due to the large number of denominations especially if you consider the owl types from the East as well as from Athens proper.  This tiny scrap of silver is Eastern and weighs 0.22g. 

 

This Athens hemiobol is 0.35g.  Was the foreign copy smaller to start with or just lost so much due to corrosion?  

[Edessa]

British Museum Electrotype: Athens, circa 465 BC, AR Decadrachm (30mm, 42.13g, 7h). Obv: Head of Athena right., wearing crested helmet, earring and necklace; bowl ornamented with spiral and three olive leaves. Rev: A - Q - E Owl standing facing., with spread wings; in upper field left, olive-twig with two leaves and berry. Ref: Gulbenkian 515 (these dies). Jameson 2080 (these dies). Svoronos pl. 8, 13. Seltman 448, group O (A303 / P 383). C. G. Starr, Athenian Coinage 480-449 BC, 54. An unmarked copy, supposedly one of the first 10 which do not have RR on the edge.

Samaria. Samarian-signed Series. Circa 375-333 BC. AR Obol (9mm, 0.76g, 12h). Obv: Helmeted head of Athena right. Rev: Owl standing facing, wings spread; Š-N (in Aramaic) flanking. Ref: Meshorer and Qedar 87; Sofaer 31: GBC 1037; HGC 10, 416.