Even though it is not fully proven I am a believer that the coin we call
Tetarteron was not a fixed
denomination. The coin right now has been proven to be at least three different values.
1. Metropolitan tetartera were minted in
Constantinople , they contained a small amount of silver. They also
had a small amount of silver wash that helped visually to distinguish the metropolitan tetartera and the regional ones.
2. Regional tetartera were minted in mints outside
Constantinople, they never contain silver.
3. Half tetartera ,
Hendy found coins in a lower
weight than the regional tetartera and grouped them into a half
denomination.
I believe the Regional tetartera were a
denomination based on
weight of the coin, not
face value at all. My reasoning is very simple , after collecting these coins for almost 20 years, I have found examples of the same coin running from 1gm to 5gm , the dies in each case were the same size, the dies also were very consistent in their details of the imagery and
style making them official or at least approved , however the lack of
consistency in the
weight leads me to believe they could have only been fairly traded by their
weight.
Imagine getting two coins in your change from a purchase and one weighed 5gm and the other weighed 1gm , you would not feel they were equal in value,
nor would you accept the 1gm coin was the same value as the 5gm coin.
My theory can be argued by inflation and by only regional usage, since we are at the end of the chain of collecting and we cannot prove where a coin was found.
Hoard information is a
bit limited, the
weights were not recorded only the
average weight. Since the
Tetarteron was the most circulated coin because it was issued in the millions and it was a very low
denomination it was rarely hoarded and written information about the value of the coin is extremely limited. Purse coins (
Uncirculated) are extremely
rare. Most coins show usage because they were left in circulation for decades.
The last problem is imitation coins, made by neighboring countries use the basic image of the coin, tend to be of a lower
weight , Your coin is a perfect example , it is an imitation of the official issue, the imagery is correct but the
style is much cruder.
Simon