Hello all - I had been meaning to pick up a copy of volume III of Roman Silver coins by David Sear (the only one that’s out of print…). I found a decent deal online, and when the book arrived today, I found I was sent the 1969 first edition of the book by Seaby, and not the updated 1982 copy by Sears. So my question is if there is a significant difference between the two. If the only change is the listed values, then I don’t care. But if the second edition has more content and listings, and more photographs, then I’d want to process a return and get the right book. thanks for your help!
Sear's intro says that the revision includes information on new varieties and types, including those discovered by metal detectorists in the UK. It also has additional photos.
I had all five volumes of Roman Silver Coins and found volumes 2, 3, and 4, to be of almost no use and passed them along. Volume 1 has Republican coins organized by family which I find useful when European sales (some sellers still do) use that outdated identification method. It allows me to easily find the corresponding Crawford number. Volume 5 is late Roman silver coins (Carausius and later) which helps with argentei and siliquae.
I found 2,3,4 quite useful back when I had not yet got the corresponding BMC or RIC books. They still come in handy with their Cohen arrangement and concordance making it easier finding the coins in those books. I never owned 5 since there were so few coin in my price bracket that it covered. I kept both the 1967 and 1978 editions of volume 1 because the older book had excellent line drawings that I liked better than the later photos. Unfortunately the 1967 book did not give Crawford references (for the obvious reason, Crawford came out in 1974). I find "that outdated identification method" using families as good as any other if you have the index of inscriptions on page 162 of the 1978 book. It strikes me as one of those things where people who already know the series are at a huge advantage over those just starting when it comes to finding new things. It takes a while before you are comfortable separating earlier from later designs so you can find them easily. My answer to that was to look at plates of a collection catalog like the Washington University book. Even if it lacks rarities, I still find it useful but some sellers ask too much for it now. https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Se... collection&n=100121501&cm_sp=mbc-_-ats-_-new
