I collect “Numismatic Literature / Coin Exhibits” or "Groupings" -- not the best phrases... Maybe just "Books and Coins that Go Together." Am I the only one who does this? Maybe lots of people do. My favorites are published coins plus printed volumes with their own interesting backstories. They take a lot of research & patience (sometimes years' worth), but they’re my favorite part of my collections (coins & numis. literature). I’ve shared some before. (1) Just today I shared my Constantine IV Solidus that was photographed as the “cover coin” for ERIC II, plus my copy of ERIC II signed by the author. (2) My ex-Samuel Pozzi (1846-1918) Collection Corinth Stater (sold at Ars Classica I in Lucerne, 14 Mar 1921, Lot 1688). It "goes with" my copy of Serge Boutin's 1979 Pozzi Collection catalog. That copy is ex Library of Mark Salton (1914-2005) and Lottie Salton (d. 2020), from the Kolbe & Fanning sale in 2021. Also, for type BMC 282 (not my specimen): My tattered copy of BMC Corinth (Head 1889), with G.F. Hill's (1867-1948) bookplate. (G.F. Hill wrote other BMC volumes.) It also has the red ink library stamp & handwritten inventory number (538) of German numismatist Hermann Lanz (1910-1998). Also pictured, my homemade custom book box (temp -- cardboard wouldn't be good long-term): (3) Samarian AR Obol / Ma’eh from the Jay Galst Collection. It was originally unearthed in the “Samaria Hoard,” so it is a plate coin in Meshorer & Quedar’s 1991 Coinage of Samaria in the Fourth Century BCE, which first published the hoard and tried to catalog all Samarian coins. My copy is ex-ANS Library and signed by Meshorer (1935-2004). There’s a second signature, not sure who. (Is that Shraga Qedar (1933-2015) writing in Hebrew script [appears to be right-to-left]? Maybe Meshorer signed in both?) NOTE: Maybe it's paranoid, it occurred to me I might want to scramble the signatures. (Both authors are deceased, but still...) Also the Athena Fund (NFA, Bruce McNall, Merrill-Lynch investment fund) sale catalogs from Sotheby's in 1993, where it was Lot 972 in part II: I’ve got a bunch of others, some including more coins per book or vice versa, some taking more explanation, but I’ll just share those three. For the first, the provenance was fully listed in the auction, but the second two are special to me because I ferreted out most of the provenance myself ("in the wild," so to speak), the Corinth stater being a coin I bought in 1991, only learning of its background decades later. Does anyone else have groups of coins and numismatic literature that they collected as a “unit” or “exhibit” or because they “belong together,” however you think of it?
I was contacted thru CT to use this one on the cover of a paperback book, I think the guy that asked me was from Australia, offered to send me a first addition I was just happy that he chose my coin as the feature. Here is the coin.
That's pretty awesome! I'd be thrilled. Mine were mostly published before I got them, and those published after used previous auction photos. Unless you count RPC Online or YouTube videos -- a couple of my coins (and my hands) appeared in one of the first videos by "Classical Numismatics," which I thought was pretty fun! ("Ancient Coins: Gold Coins" (4:44-5:24) & another at 7:50-8:25.) One of those coins also popped up (using Savoca's photo) in Wolfgang Fischer-Bossert's recent die-study reattributing the Ionia, Erythrai Herakles EL Hektes to Bithynia, Herakleia Pontika (2020, "Die Elektronprägung mit dem Herakleskopf," avail. on his academia site).
I have something of a thing for coins that are featured in books. I recently did a rough count and I have something like 71 individual coins that are plated in books or are cited in books (referred to but not plated) 2 coins are plated in three separate books and I have 6 or 7 that are plated in two. I have a further 2 that may be plated/cited but I am not certain as of yet. I am doing okay as my collection consists of something like 620 coins. This is one. Sestertius of Domitian Minted during the reign of Vespasian 77=78 AD Obv Head right laureate. Rv Anonna seated right RIC 1040 26. 41 grms 33 mm Purchased in Calgary AB Canada July 2015 Glendinings Auction April 2 1952 Lot 2396 Part of Ryan collection Photo By W. Hansen I bought this coin in Calgary from a dealer and at the time that is all I knew. It had previously been in a local collection and most likely would have been sold to that collector by the same dealer that eventually sold it to me So I took it home and looked it up in here Working out the type and the legend I discovered it was minted during the reign of Vespasian and was RIC 1040. The text indicated that the coin was plated. I thought mine was pretty nice so I thought maybe I need to compare my coin with the plated specimen so why not. Turns out that it is as nice as it is the same coin.
A few days ago I wrote that I have something like 71 coins featured in books. That number has just been increased to 74 Just today I received 2 books The first one is this one I found two of my coins plated in this book one was this coin Kingdom of Bactria Euthydemos I 210/208-206 BC Balkh Obv Head right diademed Rv Herakles seated on a rock holding club before him Glenn 231 O65 R 117 16.58 grms 28 mm Photo by W. Hansen This is a picture of my coin with the one in the book There is one other in this book as well Plus one in this book. For me an interesting day. Need to get reading. Oh This is a plug Buy the Book before or after or even if you do not have The coin. It is worth it.
Congratulations on the new finds, @Terence Cheesman ! Those are all fantastic (I like that new RIC II includes private collection coins). I haven't yet seen Presbeus but I'm looking forward to it (more below). Please do share what you think of it. Also meaning to check out Glenn's book (I have his diss. in pdf). (Someone checked Glenn 2020 for my Euthydemos tetradrachm [acq. 2013]. I understand the corpus is about the same as his 2015 dissertation's [online]. I believe my rev. die was absent, at least from the diss. [Mint B, Group I, Obv O184, Rev --].) The thing I love about published coins is that it's also about collecting (or studying) the history of knowledge about ancient coins and cultures. A couple other things that might not be obvious to those who don't collect them: (1) it's a great way to learn about numismatic literature you might not otherwise encounter; and, (2) it doesn't have to be expensive -- no more so than collecting unpublished ancient coins. Many of my favorites cost $25-100 or less. This Rhegion AR Hemilitron (rarer than the Litra) was in a group at 10GBP per (+20%). From a favorite numismatist, Elvira Clain-Stefanelli's (1914-2001) collection, published in her 1987 article, "Fractional Silver Coinage of Sicily and Magna Graecia": Returning to Presbeus, the title of Koray Konuk's chapter got my attention, “MY Stands for Mylasa.” (I've read Konuk other stuff on Caria -- and collect Carian coins -- because I enjoy disputed attributions. Konuk's written about many.) I wonder if my coin below is cited, having been referenced a number of times elsewhere (incl. HNO; ex-Erich Karl, P. Vogl, and P. R. Franke). But I want to read it anyway to see about the MY types. (And the other chapters.) As an "MY" (for Mylasa?) type (it has no ethnic, but related coins do), it's among my favorite disputed coins. It's identified as Mylasa in (Konuk's) Historia Numorum Caria Online Temp N. 1883, example 1 (this coin). But this specimen alone has been attributed to 4 - 5 cities in 30 years (elsewhere, the type has been also attributed to Myndos, Myrina, and Nisyros!): Myndos in Kölner Münzkabinett Auktion 49 [30 Oct 1989], Lot 27, where it was acq. by Erich Karl; Mygissos, Karl 246 in Lanz 131, [Munzen von Karien, Sammlung Erich Karl, 27 Nov 2006], 246; Mylasa in Grün 64-1 [Sammlung Prof. Dr. Peter Robert Franke - Griechische Münzen, 20 Nov 2014], 1046; Mylasa in Leu WA 16 [22 May 2021], 1055 (Dr. Peter Vogl Collection, acq. after the Helios 5 sale in 2010); Mylasa in Historia Numorum Caria Online Temp N. 1883, example 1 (this coin); Mylasa (this coin cited & illustrated, table 41.ε) in Dimakopoulos, Stavros. 2009. Sanctuaries and Cult of Zeus in Caria. [in Greek] Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; Myous or Mygissos (this coin cited on p. 282, n8) in Lenger, Dinçer Savaş. 2016. “A New Myrinan (Aeolis) Bronze Coin?” AIIN, 62: pp. 281–286
..i reckon this would fit in this category of books n coins..plus i have a copy of the catalog page from when they were last sold previously in '84.
Two of my favorite cast bronze money books are Garrucci and Haeberline. I go to them often to see what stuff should look like before I buy it. I bought a piece of a wheel cast coin. The vendor sent a copy of the coin from a book. You can compare the whole and part below. I did some looking before I bought my first Ramo Secco cast bar.... and others. This Semis has a sickle.
I haven't yet acquired any of these early Roman Aes, or their specific literature, but they have some of the most impressive looking books. All of those tall Italian books with engravings / drawings of the (pre)coinage, and their more recent reprints, are really beautiful. I'm looking forward to adding some to my collection/library as soon as the opportunity presents! There's something about Italian publishing... A favorite book comes to mind: Adriano Savio's 2007 updated Giovanni Dattari collection, published by Giulio Bernardi, Trieste. Dattari's century old pencil rubbings aren't beautiful themselves, but somehow the effect of seeing hundreds of those folio-size plates, illustrating >13,000 coins, is really marvelous. I didn't quite realize until I actually physically had the copy in front of me: Honestly, it's difficult to say which I love more, the coins or the book:
