I don't have as large a library as some (maybe only 1000 pieces???) but I have some I really like so I'll start a thread to promote a few you should all run out and buy....NOT! The reason is that many really good books on ancient coins are not only out of print but hard to find in the used trade. I'm not suggesting you pay big money for these but I would like to hear if any of you have them and agree they are worth the effort. First: Nina Jidejian, Lebanon and the Greek World 333 to 64 BC illustrated by coins in the Michel Edde Collection This hardback was privately printed by a Swiss bank (Audi Bank) sometime in the 80's, I think. Mine had some of the title page cut away so it lost its individual number (out of 1250 copies?). The book is more or less a history of the Hellenistic coins that circulated in Lebanon 333-64 BC illustrated by very nice enlarged photographs. Text is English and French in parallel columns. I paid $5.95 for mine but I'd say more is fair but don't know where you will find one. I thought of it because I just ordered another book by the same author (just under $20) and hope it is worth owning as well. In 1998, I posted an inquiry to Numism-L (a now defunct discussion list) and got several responses filling in the information I lacked. I remember having a bank give me a prize for opening an account once or twice but none ever offered to publish my book. I must not have been as good a customer as Mr. Edde. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Eddé In all fairness, most of his coins are nicer than mine - O.K. several of them are worth more than my house. Next: E. Rtveladze, The Ancient Coins of Central Asia, Tashkent, 1987. This is the little hardback book that introduced me to Central Asian coins. As books go it is not very nice but just how many books in your library are trilingual Russian, English and Uzbeck? The photos are clear and colorful but not overly professional (some are even printed reverse mirror image). There is some information on the coins but mostly it just exposed me to far away places with strange sounding names. In half of the cases I have been able to find examples of the coins. I paid under $5 and would do it again. Finally: John Deyell, Living without Silver, Oxford India Paperbacks, 1999. The photos are not good and the printing no better but this book has more meat on coins of North India in the Early Medieval period than you will find elsewhere. I bought mine from a used book dealer in India for about $30 and it took six weeks to arrive. Amazon offers a used one for $100. I suggest waiting for another source to get a copy. The book is scholarly and more intended for economics types than numismatists. It is a slow read. I have more, some equally obscure. The point is that a numismatic library on ancients will never be any more complete than is possible with the coins themselves. There are books over a hundred years old that are still worth having for the information they provide. On the other hand there are many not worth the paper.....
My vast collection of coin books consists of a couple u.s. red books, vol 1 and 3 of Ancient Coin Collecting by Sayles, about 30+ catalog, a museum pamphlet and most recently, the whitman book by Klawans. I check the local used book store time to time and to my surprise, I found it there. I think I over paid for it though, $7.50 I do try to look for the older books though. I have been able to find some books and older articles online on google and some universities. One article was about a counter mark on a Greek coin that looked like a spiral ammonite fossil.
Let's see, I might start with Frank Robinson's Confessions of a Numismatic Fanatic. I just sold a spare I had through Vcoins. Its a fairly scarce book, but a really fun read. Anyone who appreciate Frank's sense of humor from his auctions will like this. Full of great stories, and interesting facts and history, its a great read for any collector, US, world, or ancient. My next one would be the catchy title, "Speedy Identification of Early Denominationally Marked Byzantine Coins From Anasatasius I to Basil I" by Dan Clark, 1990. It looks like a self print job, in metal rings, and is surprising good at quickly narrowing down and identifying these coins with only partial information, (very common on these). Once you figure out how to use it, its the best way I know of to identify any issues, and anyone in Byzantines know, half of these coins barely give you any clues. For a book like yours Doug, I would recommend instead Catalog of the Coins of Chach III to VIII century, by Shagalov and Kuznetsov. Using E. Rtveladze and other experts, its a more definitive refereince on these. In Russian and English, and available for $15. I might by a second backup copy, as the binding is not the greatest.
I have S&K but it is mostly a catalog rather than a read through book and the photos are pretty bad (matching the coins). Frank's book is good but has little on ancients. I should read it again. Tricks for identifying coins in the condition that most beginners seem to buy would make a good book. It would be a good compliment for RIC where you have to know the mint ID before you can look up the coin.
Lol, yeah, cannot fault the photos much in S&K since in many instances better coins aren't available. I do find it much more than a catalog, though, going through what little is known about these, putting them in chronological order, and giving multiple readings or the legends I believe is refreshing intellectual honesty. However, since its such a tiny little rare field, and I do not want any more competition for the coins, forget about this book. Frank's book maybe is not "ancient" per se, I just think should be a textbook in an introductory coin collecting class. It reminds you of a Sayles book, but better. Just bringing it up since if anyone ever sees one they have a chance to read, (hard to miss with its bright pink cover), I am personally vouching that I think you would enjoy the stories and insights. No coins at all in the book, just stories and information. Let's see, how about the 3 part "World of Numismatics" series from the 70's? Three books, Roman, Greek, and Byzantine. Nice photography, some nice general information. I have a warm spot in my heart for these since by reading the Byzantine one I was able to recognize the Ostrogothic coin I got in a lot. I would not "pursue" these, but I paid less than $25 a piece for these over the years, and at that price I believe they are good books to have. They are more of a bedtime read, coffee table type, supplement to a reference on any of the series, but still nice. They pop up on Ebay occasionally.
