Ancient Books

No not books from long ago in a galaxy far far away...

The FUN show is in 2 days, I plane on buying some books while I'm there. Are there any good Ancient coin books that I need to look fer'?

Thanks,
Aidan

 

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What kind of coins are you most interested in?

 

Greek

 

Then I would recommend David R Sear's Greek Coins and Their Values Vol 1 (Europe) and Vol 2 (Africa and Asia) You could probably bag both for <100.

I am sure others will recommend other books but this is a good book to have for a YN. As well as Wayne Sayles Ancient Coin Collecting. (You want something more advanced)

I noticed you said Greek I would assume you mean Greek from Europe and Asia Minor, you might consider getting some old auction catalogs and maybe look for texts related to those geographical locations.

 

Anthony, John, Collecting Greek Coins
Jenkins, G. K., Ancient Greek Coins
Jones, John Melville, A Dictionary of Ancient Greek Coins

These are non-catalogs that show many coins and have much information but no catalog numbers or prices. For that, get Sear.

 

Greek is the toughest. one of the main reasons is its so HUGE. Do you know what kind of greek? Seleucid, Ptolemaic, Archaic, classical, Parthian?

Btw I will be there Friday if you wanted some help looking at a book dealer's inventory.

 

I don't really know what kind I want to collect yet.

I will only be at the show Thursday with a fellow YN of mine.

 

Think of "greek" the same as "world". Do you really think any book covering all world coins for 500 years will be very thorough? That is the problem. Sear two volume is ok, but very, very cursory and is 25 years old at this point. Its a starting point though.

If you do not know what you wish to collect yet, maybe hold off on buying any books until you find out. Normally I wouldn't say that, but the field is just too huge. Check some beginner books out from the library and read them, that is a great start. Another good start is a good website like Parthia.com for Parthian coins or John Anthony's site, (though why would anyone want to collect Nabateans ).

 

john anthony's (not our JA) collecting greek coins DS mentioned is a good broad overview book for folks who aren't sure yet. that would be perfect for the beginer. probably also the least expensive.

 

Yeah, every time Anthony's book comes up I have to mention that I'm not him. I should ask Peter to change my user name. What do think of IOANNES ANTONINVS PIVS FELIX PLEBIS?

 

I feel your pain. I am not on this page:
https://www.google.com/search?q=dou...&ei=hFmsVOutCu3CsASxxYC4BA&ved=0CDgQsAQ&dpr=1

My website is on the sixth page of Google. About 15 years ago it was third behind the pianist and the guitarist on Altavista but in that time the Internet has found a lot of more important people with my name.

There are many good books. There are many worthless books. The idea is to buy the ones that are good and sell for prices that will be offset by the good you get from them. On several occasions I have come forward with the opinion that beginners can dispense with buying a lot of expensive books and I still believe that there are more books that sell for prices over their value than there are bargains. The Internet is a bargain. Coin Talk is a bargain. Books vary.

 

My educational web page

http://esty.ancients.info/numis/learnmore.html

which begins with books about Roman coins continues with books on Greek coins. Also, some are for sale at

http://augustusmath.hypermart.net/numislit.html

 

I'm not important at all except to me. But in the 1980's there was a spy with my name. And since I was in the inelligence field, many acquaintances thought it was me when it hit the news. http://www.csmonitor.com/1984/0104/010422.html

Back to coins

 

Yes yes yes, I know how big Greek coinage is, I'll just be looking for an overall book on Greeks.

Books actually...

 

I've enjoyed these overview books by Wayne Sayles:


ANCIENT COIN COLLECTING, VOL. I, 2ND ED.


ANCIENT COIN COLLECTING, VOL. II, 2ND ED.: NUMISMATIC ART OF THE GREEK WORLD

 

Okay, thanks all, hopefully I can pick some up tomorrow.

 

I started buying a lot of coins way before any book and found out what coins I like best. Online information has been adequate as a starting point for me.

 

Got this book at the show for $20, I've been reading it whenever I can.

 

Good tips here, think I might pick up the Sayles book too.

 

A bit late to this thread but:
Richard Plant
Greek Coin Types and Their Identification
is by far the best book for Greek coins, particularly for the beginner.