Expanding the Library

Yeah lets post some new books for the library! Thanks to @Ken Dorney who was kind enough to send me these catalogs (guess I'm going to have to some learn German... ). One of the catalogs not shown is the "Masterpieces of Greek Coinage: Selections from Cabinet W".


That's not all, thanks to our very own @GDJMSP I shall be getting moooooore catalogs. And also thanks goes out to @ancientcoinguru for books given to me in the past.

Please post any relevant new books to your library!​

 

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Thats cool

 

This book was recommended to me by @Alegandron, so I bought a copy, and it just arrived today. I am looking forward to reading it


For those who might be interested in owning a copy of this book, it is on sale for $25 from the publisher.
https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/coinage-roman-economy-300-bc-ad-700

 

What a great set of catalogues @Aidan_()
I love looking through old auction catalogues and admiring all of the coins. It's expanded my knowledge of coins significantly and also inspired purchases. I could spend hours going through them. It's one of the many reasons my wife thinks I'm nuts.

Thanks for the book recommendation @ancientcoinguru I'll have to add that to my library as it looks like a great subject.

I picked up a set of JJ North's two volume English Hammered Coinage thanks to @Valentinian It is one of two standard references for English Hammered coins. I also bought a book on Anglo-Irish coins from Amazon.

 

@ancientcoinguru showed a book by Harl. I say this about it on my web page:

http://augustuscoins.com/ed/numis/learnmore.html

" Many collectors want to know about the role of coins in the economy. What were they worth? What about taxes? How much did the government spend? Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 BC to AD 700, by Kenneth Harl, has 500 pages of answers to questions like these, and excellent photographs of 267 important coin types. He has gathered together in one volume the results of a large number of research articles and incorporated them into a single, flowing, account. This book is very informative. I have some criticisms of details, but no work of this scope could avoid controversy. (In particular, I think his discussion of the denominations of the coins AD270 - 310 is too assertive. There are many dissenting opinions that he fails to represent.) However, this book will give you a good idea of the complexity of the subject and what the evidence looks like. It is very scholarly and not for beginners, but it is highly recommended."

At $25 the book is a very good deal. If the questions above interest you, buy it.

 

Bummer. I already ordered a copy off Amazon for $45 (in fact just arrived half an hour ago). Day late and a dollar short....

 

If you are getting interested in old catalogues, I highly recommend Ancient Coin Auction Catalogues, 1880-1980, by John Spring. It's a tremendous resource.

 

Thanks for the heads up, just ordered it.

 

This is unfortunately not a coin book. Only two coins are included. 48 pages.


https://store.metmuseum.org/met-publications/dangerous-beauty-medusa-in-classical-art/invt/80042868

 

Vesta Curtis, M. Askari, Elizabeth Pendleton, Richard Hodges, and Ali-Akbar Safi: Sasanian Coins in the National Museum of Iran. Volume I. Ardashir I - Hormizd IV, London, 2010, Royal NUmismatic Society Publication 47, 102 plates with facing text (sylloge format), A4, red cloth, dust jacket. New.Volume 2. Khusrau II - Yazdgard III, London, 2012, Royal Numismatic Society Publication, plates 103-352 plates with facing text (sylloge format), A4, red cloth, dust jacket. New.

352 plates in two volumes should make a great resource for the collector of Sasanian coins, right? I wish I could recommend the books but I simply can't. The photos vary from OK to Oh,well but, in many cases it would have been hard to do more with the terrible coin (or part of a coin) shown. The information is presented in a sterile sylloge style with no information beyond what fits in the almost coded listings (not even a space between coins!) and a very short introduction that was most noteworthy to me for pointing out that the listings omitted the sizable holdings of the museum in confiscated coins and a handful of coins too far gone to identify. The book is intended for the student of Sasanian coins and not as a guide for collectors. It does show a much larger number of smaller denominations than I was aware existed but has weaknesses (I'm having trouble believing they only have seven coins of Bahram II).

The two volumes split between Hormizd IV who finishes the 102 plates in the first book and Khusrau II who makes up all but twenty of the 249 plates in volume two. I was not the target market for these books but I do hope to learn enough elsewhere to be able to appreciate what is contained in them. I am not saying these books are bad but just that they are a bad fit for a collector/student of my level. This is a resource, not a textbook. You shouldn't blame a sylloge for being a sylloge. I would be better off reading the 8000 entries presented on acsearch if you search Sasanian.

Beginners like me often have trouble reading the mint marks on coins of this series. The 15 plates of unknown or missing mint coins of Khusrau II make me feel a little better about it. Even the experts in the museum have trouble reading some of these coins.

 

How is the Medieval Anglo-Irish Coins book? It looks like one I might want to pick up.

 

Wow! Thanks for sharing this deal. I was interested in this book a few weeks ago used at $45 now new at $25 it’s a steal.

 

Sadly I haven't had time to read it yet. That being said, it looks to be more of a history of the coinage, along the lines of Lord Stewartby's book on English coins, and not a catalogue like North or SCBC. I've been intrigued by some of the issues of Edward IV, like the one below (not my coin), and was really excited to find a book that covers them.

 

The information given in this book, even at the under $40 I paid, is a steal!

It helped me rethink the attribution of my Roman Republic PRE-Denarii reform coins as the ORIGINAL Denarius and Quinarius in the Third Century BCE:

The Denarius was tariffed at 10 Asses. Denarius has always been the Roman name of a coin for 10 units... Quinarius = 5 Asses and half the Denarius. (Everyone around them being Greeks to the south, called them Didrachmae/Drachmae). The Reform of the Denarius as everyone knows them AFTER 211 BCE was a downsize to roughly half of the ORIGINAL Denarius / Quinarius.


Roman Republic
Anonymous, 310-300 BCE
HEAVY DENARIUS - Didrachm (Silver, 20mm, 7.28 g 11)
Uncertain mint (Neapolis?)
OBV: Helmeted head of bearded Mars to left; oak spray to right
REV: Horse’s head right, wearing bridle, on base inscribed ROMANO; to left, stalk of grain.
REF: Sear 22; Crawford 13/1; HN III 266. Sydenham 1
COMMENTS: Minor reverse corrosion.
From a Swiss collection, formed in the 1990s


Roman RRepublic
Anon Ca 240 BCE
AR Heavy Quinarius - Drachm 16mm 3.0g
Rome mint
Helmet Hd Mars r
Horse’s hd sickle
Craw 25-2 Syd 25 RSC 34a Rare

 

No spoilers! I'm only on page 26!!

 

LOL, yeah, the Guy gets the Girl, but he DIES in the end. Sorry, THE END.

 

Thanks Red, I'll keep a look for it.

 

That's a fun group of catalogues, @Aidan_(). I especially like the Leu and Nomos ones.

I've been looking to buy SNG von Aulock for some time now but a new set of all four volumes is more than I'd like to pay. Earlier this month, I managed to pick up an affordable copy of Vol 2. No idea how long it'll take me to find the rest of the set, but tracking shows that my Vol 2 has reached my local post office and I can probably expect it to be delivered by Monday or Tuesday.

 

Here are 2 of my recent purchases. I'm into antiquarian books. They are both way out of date (1920's), but they hold up rather well despite their age. These were cheap. 3 or 4 dollar booksale/Goodwill finds. Really great plates in both. Cheers!

 

Anyone receive their Coinage in the Roman Economy from Johns Hopkins? Mine arrived today but without slipcover. Not a big deal but I thought that would be included.

Pretty cool diagram here though: