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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Valentinian, post: 3185198, member: 44316&quot;]I already have a large library of books on ancient coins, so I wasn&#039;t expecting much when I got Rynearson&#039;s book <i>Collecting Ancient Greek Coins</i> in a large batch of books. But I was pleasantly surprised at how well-done it was and how interesting it was, even though I am not a beginner.</p><p><br /></p><p>It is hardcover, 6 1/4&quot; by 9 1/4&quot;, 256 pages. The first 112 pages discuss &quot;getting Started&quot; with sections on &quot;historical background,&quot; &quot;Artistic Background,&quot; &quot;Numismatic Principles and Caveats&quot; (with grading, cleaning, surfaces, forgeries, etc. discussed), and &quot;Approaches to Collecting Ancient Greek Coins&quot; (including collecting themes and some book reviews). The rest of the book is a discussion of 131 coins arranged regionally as is usual. Unlike many books written by scholars, this book not only tells you about the type, but also about the particular coin and its grade and value and what factors contribute to the value of that particular coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>The cover and hype misdescribe it as &quot;A guided tour featuring 25 significant types.&quot; It really discusses 181 types and illustrates them enlarged in color with excellent photos. The &quot;25&quot; really refers to broad categories of types such as &quot;Greek issues minted in Italy&quot; as if it were <b>one</b> &quot;type&quot; (but, for example, this section has two coins from each of Metapontion, Thourioi, and Kroton for six types in the normal use of the term &quot;type&quot;).</p><p><br /></p><p>Each photo gives the weight and diameter of the coin and a short discussion of the grade and defects. Giving the diameter is important because the photos are enlarged. At the end in Appendix A it repeats all the coins with the obverse photo natural-sized so you can get a feeling for how big it is. That is really helpful for beginner who might not realize that the fine artistry on an obol really is on a tiny coin! At the end there is a glossary of terms used to describe ancient Greek coins (Do you know what an aphlaston is?)</p><p><br /></p><p>Appendix B is a list of suggested retail price for those exact coins. Rynearson was (he died in 2012) a dealer and I think the coins in the book were coins he actually handled. Most are high-quality and the prices are typically $400 to $10,000, with some higher and some lower. (I thought the quoted dollars values are high, but high-quality coins bring high prices.)</p><p><br /></p><p>The book has lots of casual advice for potential buyers about quality (style, strike, patina, etc.) and problems (such as porosity and corrosion, centering, etc.) But, it is not preachy, just factual when it comes up with one of the coins he is discussing.</p><p><br /></p><p>The coins are great. The photos are great. The text is like a friendly high-end dealer seated next to you and talking about the coin while you handle it. I recommend the book. I see it is avaiable on Amazon for about $18 including shipping.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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