As an alternative to the accelerator technique, a simple, compact, small counter system has been developed and tested for routine carbon-14 dating. This small counter is an all-metal design made of the OFHC copper with quartz supports for the 25mum stainless steel anode. Careful selection of materials for the counter construction was made based on the measurements of the alpha contamination. Methane as the counter filling gave better resolution and gas gain stability; whereas carbon dioxide gave lower background counting rate, and it was easier to prepare and to handle. The long term run using CH₄ showed that the gas gain remained stable within one to two percent for months after the initial drop which followed the counter filling. A seven-day counting period was sufficient to achieve a three percent relative standard deviation which was considered acceptable for routine dating of younger samples. -- AATA