Hi, I have quite a few of Michael Mitchiner's books, but the one I don't have is the really scarse one 'The ancient and classical world'. If offered one for £200 would it be worth it? It covers a lot of the area I'm interested in, but there might be more up to date works out now that would be a better buy. Would anyone have any insight?
At 200 pounds (about 225 US dollars), yes, I'd definitely buy it. There are more up-to-date works on many of the specific areas covered, and if you collect one of those then you should first seek out those references. But there's no other single volume that covers as many ancient coinages of the Near East and Asia, and I still find myself using my copy regularly, especially for coinages of the Indian subcontinent.
That's very useful- many thanks. Normally I'd jump at the chance - but things are rather tight at the moment and I have to budget accordingly.
The great value of Mitchiner ACW is the breadth of coverage and the ability to quickly assign a number to a coin for ease of reference. Many of the ACW attributions are dated. Others are just plain wrong. That said, attributions in any older general reference should be weighed against more recent specialized works. I paid US$300 for my copy 20 years ago. It has paid for itself several times over.
