Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 1335784, member: 19463&quot;]I don&#039;t have as large a library as some (maybe only 1000 pieces???) but I have some I really like so I&#039;ll start a thread to promote a few you should all run out and buy....NOT!&nbsp; The reason is that many really good books on ancient coins are not only out of print but hard to find in the used trade. I&#039;m not suggesting you pay big money for these but I would like to hear if any of you have them and agree they are worth the effort.</p><p><br /></p><p>First:&nbsp; Nina Jidejian, <b>Lebanon and the Greek World 333 to 64 BC illustrated by coins in the Michel Edde Collection </b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b></b>This hardback was privately printed by a Swiss bank (Audi Bank) sometime in the 80&#039;s, I think.&nbsp; Mine had some of the title page cut away so it lost its individual number (out of 1250 copies?).&nbsp; The book is more or less a history of the Hellenistic coins that circulated in Lebanon 333-64 BC illustrated by very nice enlarged photographs.&nbsp;&nbsp; Text is English and French in parallel columns.&nbsp; I paid $5.95 for mine but I&#039;d say more is fair but don&#039;t know where you will find one.&nbsp; I thought of it because I just ordered another book by the same author (just under $20) and hope it is worth owning as well.&nbsp; In 1998, I posted an inquiry to Numism-L (a now defunct discussion list) and got several responses filling in the information I lacked.&nbsp; I remember having a bank give me a prize for opening an account once or twice but none ever offered to publish my book.&nbsp; I must not have been as good a customer as Mr. Edde.&nbsp; <a href="http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Eddé" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Eddé" rel="nofollow">http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Eddé</a>&nbsp; In all fairness, most of his coins are nicer than mine - O.K. several of them are worth more than my house.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Next:&nbsp; E. Rtveladze, <b>The Ancient Coins of Central Asia, </b>Tashkent, 1987.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is the little hardback book that introduced me to Central Asian coins.&nbsp; As books go it is not very nice but just how many books in your library are trilingual Russian, English and Uzbeck?&nbsp; The photos are clear and colorful but not overly professional (some are even printed reverse mirror image).&nbsp; There is some information on the coins but mostly it just exposed me to far away places with strange sounding names.&nbsp; In half of the cases I have been able to find examples of the coins.&nbsp; I paid under $5 and would do it again.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Finally: John Deyell, <b>Living without Silver,&nbsp;&nbsp; </b>Oxford India Paperbacks, 1999.</p><p><br /></p><p>The photos are not good and the printing no better but this book has more meat on coins of North India in the Early Medieval period than you will find elsewhere.&nbsp; I bought mine from a used book dealer in India for about $30 and it took six weeks to arrive.&nbsp; Amazon offers a used one for $100.&nbsp; I suggest waiting for another source to get a copy.&nbsp; The book is scholarly and more intended for economics types than numismatists.&nbsp; It is a slow read.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>I have more, some equally obscure.&nbsp; The point is that a numismatic library on ancients will never be any more complete than is possible with the coins themselves.&nbsp; There are books over a hundred years old that are still worth having for the information they provide.&nbsp; On the other hand there are many not worth the paper.....[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in