World’s smallest coin ? 0

[RWB]

This is hybrid US-World coin post....more mileage on the same amount of hot air !

This letter from the Legación de Costa Rica, en Washington appears to propose the world’s smallest diameter coin - in gold, too !

“…coined in pieces of two colones each, to say 125,000 pieces, 2 Colons each weighing grms. 1.556,  900 fine, 0.014 millimeters diameter….”

A gold coin just 0.014 millimeters in diameter would be almost invisible. Image trying to engrave the dies. Would it have a reeded or lettered edge? Although the coin would have a small diameter it would be more than a meter thick – think of the vending machines. How would Mint staff check the coins for errors? Hmmm. I wonder what an album page would look like….?

A follow-up letter from the Philadelphia Mint repeats the same specifications.

Edited March 16, 2020 by RWB

[MK Ultra]

I thought this was about the panama pill, which I'm looking to get one for my nephew.

[RWB]

Maybe a "near nanocoin?"

[Just Bob]

Interesting that the typo was repeated in the follow-up letter from Philadelphia.

 

The request was for 125,000 coins, dated, I assume, 1901, since the letter was sent rather late in the year (September.)  NGC's world coin price guide gives a mintage of 45,000 coins for 1900, but does not show any minted in 1901. The same goes for the Coinfactswiki website, and Numista. However, the book "Foreign Coins Struck at United States Mints" lists the mintage for Costa Rican 2 Colones coins by the Philadelphia mint for 1900 as 44,805 , and for 1901 as 80,195. This totals 125,000 coins - the number requested. I am curious why there is this discrepancy. Maybe further research of the mint records will shed some light on this

[kbbpll]

https://archive.org/details/Rg104entry271vol5/page/n71/mode/2up  shows all 125,000 coins minted in November 1900. Scroll down, handwritten entry at the bottom. Flip forward a page, and the 125,000 coins are also booked for the 6 months ending December 31, 1900, and also the calendar year 1900. Curious that they would have minted both 1900 and 1901 dates in the same month.

[RWB]

Here's a photo of the coin in question - after fixing the typo diameter. As kbbpll notes, all the coins were struck in November 1900. They are readily available so it's likely few went into circulation. Most of the population were peasants picking bananas for whom a gold coin was unimaginable. These went to the 5% who controlled money.

Edited March 16, 2020 by RWB

[kbbpll]

I can't find a 1901 version anywhere. There are a bunch of sold 1900 on Heritage. If the mintage posted by Just Bob is accurate, and almost twice as many 1901 were minted as 1900, you'd think there would be some. Melted? Imaginary?

[RWB]

1 hour ago, kbbpll said:

I can't find a 1901 version anywhere. There are a bunch of sold 1900 on Heritage. If the mintage posted by Just Bob is accurate, and almost twice as many 1901 were minted as 1900, you'd think there would be some. Melted? Imaginary?

Imaginary. All the gold was provided in 1900 and the coins struck/dated in 1900. Lazard Frères was the agent for Costa Rica for both 10 and 2 colones coins.

The Mint archives could correct a lot of mistakes regarding foreign coins struck by  US Mints, but that means a person has to go take a look, analyze the materials and report findings -- oh, and publishers to bother reading any of it.

Edited March 16, 2020 by RWB

[kbbpll]

2 hours ago, RWB said:

The Mint archives could correct a lot of mistakes

Hopefully not use this letter to correct the published diameter.

It makes me wonder where the 45,000 mintage comes from, or the other numbers @Just Bob posted. 80,195 seems awfully specific for an imaginary coin.

[Just Bob]

Looks like I should take the mintage figures of that particular book with a grain of salt. Oh well, it is a handy little book, but the information is somewhat lacking - and, apparently somewhat inaccurate.

Evidently, NGC, Numista, and Coinfactswiki got their figure of 45,000 from the same source. Krause, maybe?

If Mr Lange reads this, maybe he can get NGC's number changed.

[RWB]

This posted information is correct:

https://archive.org/details/Rg104entry271vol5/page/n71/mode/2up  shows all 125,000 coins minted in November 1900. Scroll down, handwritten entry at the bottom. Flip forward a page, and the 125,000 coins are also booked for the 6 months ending December 31, 1900, and also the calendar year 1900.

[gmarguli]

On 3/15/2020 at 3:59 PM, MK Ultra said:

I thought this was about the panama pill, which I'm looking to get one for my nephew.

Always a cool coin. Snagged this one a few years back. It's graded NGC MS66*.

[RWB]

Tiny Panamanian coin, yet look at the detail ! What our mint turns out today is corporate-digested mush compared to that little bug.