I'm still new to identifying Byzantine coins. I've ordered a used copy of the Sear book, which I hope will help my get started once it arrives. I've also got a handful of unsorted follis coins to practice on. Any advice on starting out would be welcomed. Prices were very modest, about $5 each.
I hope it is the second edition, which is far superior to the first. It has much greater coverage of very late Byzantine coins. You will find it many types are not photographed, so it can be very hard to identify a late Byzantine coin using Sear. You might use wildwinds: http://wildwinds.com/coins/sb/i.html You might use this site (I filled in "Manuel I") http://labarum.info/lbr/index.php?s...el+I+Comnenus&sf_mint=&sf_denom=&sf_metal3=on It doesn't always find things by Sear number, so use the name of the emperor, and the man who set up the website is no longer fixing it. Personally, I use the hardcover Dumbarton Oaks Catalogs, but I don't expect others to have DOC in a convenient form.
Sorry if this is redundant, but you're cordially referred to Quantum.geek's thread, The trouble with t̶r̶i̶b̶b̶l̶e̶s̶ trachys. And congrats on landing a copy of Sear!
It was the second edition. Used copy just arrived in the mail. It's probably going to take me a while to build up enough familiarity to get much use out of it, but it's always nice to have some sort of reference if I start collecting in an area. Thanks for all the reference suggestions.
