Which coin book is your current read, and which will be your next buy?

Nothing at the moment, I'm reading Swafford's biography of Beethoven, but next on my list is Bland's Iron Age and Roman Coin Hoards in Britain, and also the third and fourth volumes of Sear.

 

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I just picked up this book. "Etruscan Coinage " by Italio Vecchi Not my copy. looks like an interesting book and it has my one and only Etruscan coin plated in it. Populonia Ar twenty Asses Third Century BC Obv Diademed facing head of Metus with protruding tongue. (Obviously not happy with something) Anepigraphic. Rv Blank EC Group XII 58.11 Photo by W. Hansen I guess this is an example of buy the book soon after the coin. The next book(s) are Vol I and III of the Koinon series. I was very impressed with Vol II and decided to get the other two.

 

David Hartill's RNS Publication Qing Cash and his Early Japanese Coins just arrived in the mail.

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Sweet. My 3 old green cash coins from the Quing dynasty are among the few coins in my collection that I haven't photographed, checked out and archived yet. I hope I can rely on you and your new book when I'm sure to need help with them.

 

No problem. Thought there are many others who know that coinage well too and will surely help.

The keys to Qing coinage identification, beyond the usual identification of the four characters on the obverse, are the minor details in those characters and, especially, the two characters on the reverse - usually in the Manchu language. These characters identify the mint but can sometimes be difficult to read.

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I recently received David R. Sear's first volume on Greek and Roman coins. This reference is very nicely formatted, with wonderful photos. It is a general reference, introductory in nature, that gives the reader a very good overview of coinage in ancient Greece and Rome.

 

For both Ancients and U.S. Coins....auction catalogs are a great source of current and historical information. They are cited numerous times in books and I have a few from the 2020 FUN Conference and they are a very good read.

 

So what exactly does he mean by "tribal issues"?

 

Fundamentally, he is distinguishing between coinage produced by Greek city/states in their name, such as Athens, Syracuse, Corinth and Thebes, and coinage produced by groups spread over a region and defined by ethnicity, religion, language and culture, such a the Phoenicians, Celts or Lydians, basically kingdoms versus city/states. That's my take, so far (still reading it in fits and starts).