Earlier this week, I was in Colorado Springs and went to the ANA museum and library. Here are just a few of the ancient coin references they have. Photos cannot do the place justice.
This is the main reason I maintain a membership to the ANA, as these books can be borrowed through the mail. Much cheaper than buying some of them!
I saw the library and museum in 2006. Plan on visiting again this year. They are very helpful when doing research.
My wife is a librarian. We found it interesting that they shelve four sets of Cohen with all the volume VI's together etc. despite the fact they were not all the same editions rather than as four sets of all eight volumes as units. Babelon shows why you don't use sticky labels on leather. Some are now free online but some are not cheap. Some OOP books like BMC Greek are available as photo reprints at low prices but you might avoid the ones that use photos rather than line drawings since many photos reproduce as blobs. I bought two volumes (Sicily and Alexandria) but neither offers anything to those who own any more recent catalogs. Alexandria was 1892 and made worthless when Dattari came out. Now we have Emmett. Back when I was an ANA member (1964, I believe), I tried to borrow a book that I wanted very much but was told that their copy was in too bad condition to mail. That was the last year I was a member. Back then the ANA made very little effort to attract people interested in ancients. Has that really changed?
I couldn't speak to back in 1964, but I think they have made an effort. The numismatist has a monthly column on ancient Coins, and a bi-monthly column on medievals. I have found the library has been helpful for my research maybe 2/3 of the time (there was a Portuguese book I was looking for which they did not have, nor did they have anything on the sultanate of Kilwa). I have gotten the impression that the ANS library might be better, but it doesn't seem like they loan the books through the mail, and I'm not about to make a trip to New York just to flip through a couple of books...
Except for the most rare books, your town library can get almost anything via ILL for free, and if not free, for a nominal fee. I do this all the time. Just this year I borrowed an original copy of Rizzo which last sold for about $5,000. I was able to get a copy of this great map, which I will frame and add to my home library @dougsmit What kind of library does your wife work in? (I'm a librarian too)
