Ancient coins? Literature?

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Vlad, Aug 18, 2004.

  1. Vlad

    Vlad Senior Member

    can anyone advise any book about Roman, Greek, Bisantium coins?
     
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  3. National dealer

    National dealer New Member

  4. Ian

    Ian Coin Collector

    I couldn't advise on any specific book that covers all types of ancient coins. I can certainly mention a couple for Greek coins though.

    The best book I have come across to date for giving a general overview of the ancient greek world of coins is `Collecting Greek Coins' by John Anthony. You should be able to pick up a copy relatively cheaply.

    `Greek Coins' by Ian Carradice is another generalist book I would heartily recommend. I bought mine new from an ebay seller for a few dollars.

    If you read one or other of these and get bitten by the bug, THEN it is worthwhile looking at other literature (the bibliographies of both books will ensure that you won't suffer from `what to read next').
    At that point, magazines such as the Celator might be a little bit more significant. ;-)

    Ian
     
  5. kaparthy

    kaparthy Well-Known Member

    Today, the standard introductions are the books by WAYNE SAYLES. He has a series on ancients. The first volume is an overview of Greek, Roman, etc., and the subsequent volumes focus on each area (Greek, Roman, etc.) You can find this on the web at

    http://www.vcoins.com/sayles/store/listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?idCategory=23
    or start here
    http://www.celator.com/
    and click to Wayne Sayles's books.

    Another introduction with a long history is the "Handbook of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins" by Zander H. Klawans and Ken Bressett. The Klawans book goes back 50 years and Bressett has updated it. You can find this from many booksellers as it is in print.

    Once you get going, you might want the SEABY books on Greek Coins by DAVID SEAR and on Roman Silver Coins (also by David Sear) and Byzantine Coins and their Values. 2nd ed. London: Seaby Ltd.,also by David Sear.

    Lest we suffer from an overdose of David Sear, there is a 2-vol set on Roman Coins by David Vagi. See my review on Coin Newbies at http://www.coin-newbies.com/articles/david_vagi.html

    Michael
     
  6. National dealer

    National dealer New Member

    I agree with the Wayne Sayles nod. I have purchased the six volumes about Ancient Coin Collecting as this is a new study for myself. Classical deception is another must have for ancient collecting. (also by Sayles).
    For an interesting story check out Coinage and Conflict by Henry Pollack. A clever look at ancient coins and some interesting facts.
     
  7. Ian

    Ian Coin Collector


    Actually, I found `Classical Deception' a bit of a let down and frankly find that there's nothing `must have' about it.

    For me the book struggled to make up its mind what it was trying to achieve and as a result achieved very little apart from listing a few counterfeiters and samples of there wares.

    As far as equipping the collector with a means of avoiding fakes, i'd have to give it pretty low marks. It is one book I could not in all honesty recommend to anyone.
     
  8. kaparthy

    kaparthy Well-Known Member

    You know, that is exactly how I felt about the John Anthony book you recommended. Odd, isn't it? Well, it takes opinions to make a horse race. You certainly know your stuff and I would not ignore a comment from you, Ian, but it seems that I will be doing my own shopping for books. :D

    I do not have CLASSICAL DECEPTION, so I cannot give an opinion.

    Michael
     
  9. Ian

    Ian Coin Collector

    John Anthony's book is not something I would dream of referring to a seasoned reader in the `ancients' field. Why would a seasoned vet want to read a beginners book?

    If you were looking for a `first book' on the subject and came upon the one by Anthony, I doubt very much if you would have the perspective you have.

    In any event, it is what it is...an entry level book with no pretentions of anything else. It's cheap, readily available, and very readable. It is `fit for purpose' for giving someone with casual interest a fairly good taster of the subject of `ancient greek coinage' . I wouldn't recommend the Sayles books for `taster' purposes....and when one has had a `taster' why go for middle of the road when there are (IMHO) better texts around? But each to their own. ;-)

    I'm very wary of so called `standard texts'. Today, more than ever, the effects of modern marketing makes book sales much more than the quality of content. Suffice it to say that because a book sells in quantity does not make it a good book.

    Sayles works are to my mind `popular'. `Classical Deception' is popular and no doubt a `standard' too. `Standard' does not mean `good'. ;-).
     
  10. kaparthy

    kaparthy Well-Known Member

    At the recent ANA convention in Pittsburgh, I bought Barclay Head's HISTORIA NUMORUM. The work is about 100 years old, with editions in 1887 and 1911. The 1911 edition has been reprinted extensively by Seaby and Sandy Durst among others. That is the one I bought, a Seaby printing. A lot of what we read about ancient Greek coins was the work of Head and his contemporaries.

    I also got the Jenkins "coffee table" book ANCIENT GREEK COINS. The nice pictures are worth the price of the book.

    A minor point: Byzantium is the usual spelling and some "insiders" are going over to calling them "Romaion." They called themselves Romaion. The terms "Byzantine" and "Byzantium" were coined by French encyclopediasts of the mid 1700s, more as a political move than as scholarship... or so the story goes.

    Michael
    "Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople."
     
  11. Ian

    Ian Coin Collector

     
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