200 Ancient Coins You Should Know: a book that should exist

In a current thread about best books for beginning ancient coin collectors, many people lamented not having one great book.

@AncientJoe had these insights and suggested a "200 Ancient Coins You Should Know" book for beginners:

Hmm. Yes! Good idea. Someone should do that!

Hey, I'm someone. We're someone (many someones) . Maybe I could do it. Or maybe we could do it.

@dougsmit had some additional thoughts on the idea, including a reality check about the obstacles and difficulties of such a project:

What content do you think would make the best "all-purpose" beginner's guide to the spectrum of ancient coins? I don't envision spending a lot of time on how to identify or attribute coins-- I see more of a visual guide which also includes some history of the individual coins and, even though it will be outdated upon print-- price information. I'd like to see it focus on coins which are available and generally affordable for most collectors.

Why don't we start by trying to agree (or agree as much as possible) on a list of 200, restricting the list to coins struck before ~476 CE to keep it from getting too unwieldy. Perhaps later, if the list looks too thin, we could expand it. Or write a second book .

@Curtisimo's thread, Who’s the Most Culturally Significant Person in your Collection? (According to MIT), may be an great jumpstart to coming up with such a list. If a person is on that list, odds are good that a coin of the person-- if not prohibitively rare or expensive-- belongs in the book.

I'm going to put some thought into my version of a list. Why don't you do the same and we'll compare notes and argue about who belongs and who doesn't (argue civilly, of course ). It's okay if you don't want to make a thoroughly vetted list of 200, just start throwing around names or submitting short lists. I'll compile things as we go along, probably with a spreadsheet of the suggestions.

Perhaps we'll find that for some numbers/entries, instead of a relatively specific coin the listing should be for a general type. For instance, "Tetradrachm of Roman Egypt". I'm not sure. This is the type of thing we can discuss.

Since the book will be primarily be aimed at beginners, the focus should be on attainable coins-- coins within the range of the average collector both in price and availability. Perhaps a chapter could be added at the end to rarities and higher end coins.

The discussion of which coins such a book should include will probably take a long time but a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. If it ends up being beyond my abilities, maybe this thread will give someone else a head start on such a book.

Oh no... a new thread without a coin picture? Can't have that!

Here's a type for the book: Corinth stater. I have a few. Here's the first one I bought.


CORINTHIA, Corinth
345-307 BCE
AR stater, 8.65 gm
Obv Pegasus flying left, qoppa below
Rev: helmeted head of Athena left wearing necklace; mask of Silenus behind
Ref: Ravel 1046. Calciati 408. Scarce variety.
from Heritage Auctions, June 2013
This scarce variety was chosen to represent Corinth staters, #23 in Harlan J. Berk's book, "100 Greatest Ancient Coins".
This isn't the most common variety but Corinth staters in general are a readily available type of ancient coin and certain something a beginning ancient coin collector should be made aware of.

 

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Love it! I'm going to reflect a bit on some of the coins I would have liked to learned more about when I was first starting out.

 

Is it possible to include Byzantine as an exception? I understand the problems associated with it, but because it’s the continuation of the Roman Empire I feel it deserves to be included.

 

You can suggest whatever you want to suggest . Submit Byzantine coins if you wish.

When the dust settles hopefully a direction will be clear.

 

Excellent idea! Even if we can’t publish an actual book, after a while we would probably have enough material here in this thread for a pretty cool website.

This list from a while ago focuses on history rather than numismatics, but it might be helpful:
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/history-checklist-the-ancient-world-in-200-coins.313927/

 

One of the other reasons I mentioned them was that most Byzantine bronzes are relatively inexpensive. In my case, all my coins cost less individually than your average stater.

 

Oh, yes! Thanks for posting that link and I'm sorry I left it out

 

Good point.

 

In hindsight, it might be worth starting with 500+ and then narrowing it down: we have a lot of history to cover! I have some partial iterations of this list written from prior wantlists and will look to assemble a new list to contribute some time this week.

Looking forward to what everyone posts!

 

Great idear, I think its important to set an average max price per coin, afterall its a start for beginners.
$300 ?
Would buy this one in very fine of the most popular coins:

 

Having an upper end of price in mind is good but even that won't be easy. I guess we could aim for $X in Y condition.

 

I'll work on a list but do have an opinion to offer generally. Lets say we decided we want a Flavian coin in the set. Most people would say the coolest of all Flavian coins is the Titus commemorative showing the Colosseum. Second are the Judaea Capta coins (all beginners see the fakes of these sooner or later). Most Flavian coins are what I disparagingly call 'Someone standing there' but that is what most beginners will see. What should we show as the one and only coin to be interesting AND available?
I like the piggies. This one is Titus but we would probably want a higher grade Vespasian. They are not as rare as a Capta coin but still have a Judaea connection.


....or is a better example of a god standing there better? This is Mars on Vespasian but there are hundreds of choices.

 

I see nothing wrong with showing coins in good condition and would include a page one disclaimer that nice coins cost more. I would include a mint state Postumus, for example, but there is no place for a coin of every one of the 30 Tyrants however cheap they might be.

 

Gotta have an owl, a turtle and a bee

 

LOVE this idea! I'm all sorts of onboard.
Shall we start her off with at least a mention of proto currency? Ie Roman aes, Celtic rings and Olbian dolphins.

 

Okay. But no

Well, maybe. Big ol' no to aes rude though. Can you imagine a beginner trying to buy a lump of slaggy-looking base metal? What could possibly go wrong?

 

Good luck finding aes signatum. AES formatum seems more feasible, especially the one with the scallop shell.

 

IMHO, the most iconic affordable Flavian would be the Judaea Capta denarius struck for Vespasian at Rome. Certainly one should be included in a list of '200 coins You Should Know' because it symbolises the historically significant conflict between the Romans and Jews and all that entails. The importance of that coin in Jewish history cannot be underestimated.

Of course, that is if a Flavian coin is included!


Vespasian
AR Denarius, 3.35g
Rome Mint, 69-70 AD
RIC 2 (C2). BMC 35. RSC 226.
Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r.
Rev: IVDAEA in ex.; Jewess (as type of Judaea), draped and veiled, seated r. on ground in attitude of mourning, knees drawn up, head resting on l. hand, which is propped on knees, r. arm on lap; behind, trophy, consisting of helmet, cuirass, oblong and round shield, greaves, and two round shields

 

My suggestions for coins in the <$300 price range for the early Roman Republic:

A small aes grave. This uncia was under $200 at auction and is a common type that anyone can find with a little patience.


Roman Republic Æ Aes Grave uncia(27 mm, 25.52 g), anonymous, 280-265 B.C., Rome mint. Astragalos(sheep knucklebone) seen from above; • / •. Crawford 14/6; Vecchi ICC 31; HN Italy 273; Thurlow-Vecchi 6a; Haeberlin plate 40, 19

A minerva/horse head litra. These are generally thought to be First Punic War-era, related to the construction of the first Roman fleet and are relatively common and cheap even in better grades. This example was under $100:

Roman Republic Æ litra(5.75g, 18mm), anonymous, after 264 B.C., Cosa mint. Helmeted head of minerva right; border of dots / Horse's head right, on base; behind, ROMA[NO] upwards. Crawford 17/1d; BMCRR Romano-Campanian 12; Sydenham 3a

An early denarius system denarius, quinarius or sestertius. The denarii are the most impressive due to the size but good anonymous denarii can be expensive. The quinarii are a good balance between price, size and historical interest, at least the more common varieties. This example was under $200:

Roman Republic AR quinarius(16.3mm, 1.94g, 12h). Anonymous. ca. 212-196 B.C. Apulian mint. Helmeted head of Roma right, V behind / ROMA, the Dioscuri riding right, each holds a spear; H below. Crawford 85/1a; Sydenham 174; RSC 33b; Russo RBW 347.

A struck prow bronze. I'd recommend going for a Janus-headed as, however they are the toughest ones to find in worthwhile condition and the small denominations can be a better value if you want a coin that's nice to look at. Each of these were about $100

Roman republic Æ Uncia(7.81g, 22mm, 3h), anonymous "post-semilibral" series. 215-212 BC. Head of Roma right, wearing attic helmet; to left, • / Prow right; above, ROMA; below, •. McCabe Group A1; Crawford 41/10


Roman Republic Æ as(30 mm, 27.09g). SAFRA(Spurius Afranius?), moneyer, 150 B.C. Rome mint. Laureate head of bearded Janus, I above / Prow right; above, SAFRA; before, dolphin; below, ROMA. Crawford 206/2; Sydenham 389; Babelon Afrania 2; Russo RBW 886(this coin).

Finally, a victoriatus. This denomination is all too frequently overlooked even by collectors with many Roman Republic coins but they're interesting and common enough that in my opinion everyone should have at least one. These represent an interesting phenomenon of Rome minting coins to facilitate trade with those on Greek and Punic monetary systems even after Rome had introduced the denarius system which made bronze, silver and gold interchangeable within the Roman monetary system. This example was right around $200 via a retail dealer

Roman Republic AR Victoriatus(17mm, 3.08g, 4h). Anonymous, after 211 B.C., Rome mint. Laureate head of Jupiter right. Border of dots / Victory right crowning trophy; in exergue, ROMA. Line border. Crawford 53/1; Sydenham 83; RSC 9.


These would be my suggestions for the early Roman Republic. I need to think a bit about what sort of coins could be included as far as middle and late Republic/Imperatorial

 

For the imperatorial period there are certain coins that should be included. In know it is expensive but a lifetime denarius of Julius Caesar is an coin important to include. It is historically important and happens to be on the want list for many collectors of ancient coins. If the expense is a sticking point then perhaps we could broaden it to any coin of Julius Caesar. Not to mention that even non-collectors know who he was.



How about the chief assassin of JC-Brutus.





I would also submit that a coin of Marc Antony should be included. His coins that feature both him and Cleopatra are all quite expensive, but some coins of Antony are reasonably priced for what they are. I do not think there is any question that Antony was an important historical figure. A legionary denarius might fit the bill quite nicely as it depicts a very important moment in Roman history.



We might also think about a coin of Cato the Younger, Cassius, Sulla, or Pompey the great.