Hello coin friends! I recently picked up a copy of the Encyclopedia of Roman Empirial Coins and I am very glad that I did. It's a solid book that is surprisingly comprehensive for a one volume tome (though it does weigh almost 10 lbs!) I am ready to buy a new numismatic book related to Ancient Greece so that my Greek coins don't feel left out . I'm looking for something that covers a specific region or city-state of Classical Greece and covers the topic comprehensively. For instance a book about the coins of Miletus that covers everything from the change in weight standards over time, denominations, types, how to date the different series as well as historical background on events that led to changes in the coinage. I'm very interested in learning more about the different weight standards also. I'm pretty open to any region so long as the book in part covers the late 5th century BC. I'd also like to spend under $75. So what do you guys think? Any suggestions? Even if you don't have any suggestions you should post a picture of your favorite Ancient Greek reference book!
this is more broad than you were talking about, but I suggest that you get Greek Coins and Their Values vol 1 & 2 by David Sear. In fact, you should get all the David Sear books.
Oliver Hoover's Handbook of Greek Coinage series are general works, but each volume covers a specific region's rulers/mints and fairly thoroughly catalogs of its coinage. I have three volumes and think they're very well done. https://www.cngcoins.com/Coins.aspx?CATEGORY_ID=2914&VIEW_TYPE=0
I was lucky enough to find used copies of these for around $5 apiece a few weeks ago. I recommend them as well.
I had heard of this series and it sounds like it might be promising. How comprehensive is the coverage for each city? The weight standards and ranges of denominations can be somewhat confusing between each city's mint and the type of metal they were using. It's not hard to find information on the Attic std. but info on all the others (Corinthian, Agenaten etc.) seems somewhat fragmentary. I'd like to find a book that drills into that kind of thing some.
None of the volumes I have are the ones that cover mainland Greece or the islands so I can't speak to their contents, but in the preface of each volume is a short, general discussion of the basic weight standards and a table of denominations and how they relate to a basic unit. Furthermore for each city, there is an introduction split into two sections - History and Coinage. The coinage section often has notes that cover things like dates of first emissions, changes in weight standards, coin types and mint practices. The catalog section will typically also state which standard a city was using (eg., Sicily, Leontinoi - Attic Standard; Sicily, Himera - Euboic standard). This is all more info than what you'll find in the Sear books, but I'd stress again that these are still general references.
Yah, I love that ERIC II book too ... oh, but I remember paying through the nostrils for it and "yes, it does weigh a ton", but again, it is my go-to-reference for ruler dates/info/coin-examples ... => oh, and it has awesome color photos throughout Ummm, and I also have all of the David Sear books (Greek, Roman, Byzantine, etc) ... these are also good references (they're especially good for determining rarities, for he gives prices for each type (which are now quite outdated) and therefore I use their relevant worth to estimate how rare they are) .... hey, it's no strict science, but I find it useful (although CNG's on-line info is by far more user friendly and is my true go-to when determining a coin's relative worth)
To be anything approaching comprehensive and stay under $75, the book would cover a very small part of a subject. An example would be Favorito, The Bronze Coinage of Ancient Syracuse. I'd suggest you try a non catalog format book with textual information and decent photos like Jenkins, Ancient Greek Coins. https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Gree...=8-1&keywords=g+k+jenkins+ancient+greek+coins There is a later (1989) edition of this with 100 fewer pages that I have not seen. I have the 310 page 1972 edition and like it. Some will say a book like this is out of date but I will point out that it covers coins that are really out of date. I should point out that anyone that likes ERIC and I have completely different tastes in books. We have many times here recommended Anthony, Collecting Greek Coins which is offensively cheap, very informative and not at all comprehensive. https://www.amazon.com/Collecting-G...&keywords=john+anthony+collection+greek+coins
Nice!! ... yah, I also loved that book by John Anthony (which I remember scoring for under $10 after you recommended it 5 or so years ago) ... it is an amazingly easy and enjoyable read => I guess each book has it's purpose, eh? (I love books)
Thanks for the excellent suggestions everyone. It looks like Hoover's Handbook of Greek Coinage Vol. 6 + Anthony's Collecting Greek Coins might be a great combo that would put me right at $75. A lot of great suggestions though. I'm sure I will eventually end up with all of them.
