Bruck review

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/book.html#bruck
I have posted a short review of the new English version of Guido Bruck's book on Late Roman Bronze Coins which I just received. I believe it is the sort of thing that would benefit those of us who love the late and the ugly but will be of no interest whatsoever to those who have no interest in such common coins - especially in poor condition. I paid $22.50 for the paperback but it is also available hardback for $44.80 from Amazon. I did not shop around for better prices.

You are invited to read my review on my webpage above.

 

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Your review makes me want to get this book. One of the reasons (just one of them) that I shy away from these LRBs, is that many are hard to identify. Not so much the identity of the emperor, but things like mint and shop, are hard to ID. Perhaps I will spring for the book. I'll look around, and in true Bing fashion, try to find the best deal.

 

I love LRB's.
Having read your other posts on Forum Ancients I will certainly check this out.

 

Thanks Doug, I didn't know they reprinted it. I have a copy at my desk actually. Anyone who is into LRB's and wish to own a roadmap to some very rare varieties should own this book.

Is the English translations worth it really to those of us who own the original?

 

Well it's no secret to anyone on this forum that I'm very interested in this coinage. I have the 1961 edition in German, and I've used it often to hunt for varieties. I'm going to order the English edition, as I've often wondered what Bruck had to say about the coins, even if it's very general. (Sorry, but as much as I'd like to learn German, I just don't have the time.)

 

I have used the German version for years. One of the many things to like about it is that is has counts of the numbers of the examples in the huge Vienna collection. So, for example, you could see that such-and-such a type is far more common for Constantius II than Constans, or the relative frequency of coins from various mints (at least in that vast collection).
There is a website (not mine) with much the same idea (without the Vienna collection numbers):
http://www.tesorillo.com/aes/home.htm
Nevertheless, I love the book and highly recommend it.

 

He does not say a lot except in the forward. There are occasional interesting points like the theory that the reason Julian II bulls from Trier have the eagle added to prevent confusion of the Constantia mintmark with that of Constantinople.

 

Another book on the wishlist. Thanks Doug

 

I've bought three books in the last week. I must spread the disease.

 

Thanks for the review, Doug! I really love Bruck's approach, and I find his drawings beautiful in their simplicity. It's one of those works which can be presented in two different ways: for the experts, it's an iconographical breakdown of the bronze coin types of the era, for the non-experts, it's a book full of pretty drawings about Roman coins!

Disclaimer: I'm the translator of the book, so I am obviously very in love with it!

 

I bought the book and am desperately looking for time to get past the first chapter and ID some coins. Life just keeps getting in the way

 

Yeah, I bought the hardcopy from Lulu and it just arrived a couple of days ago. When it comes to coin books, I buy the hardcopy over the softcover whenever possible.

 

My soft-cover copy arrived a few days ago. I prefer soft since the pages are easier to scan. I'm going to return to the Bruck thread I started shortly.

 

Das ist gut.

 

Nein, das ist Sehr Gut.

 

Bitte Sehr.

 

¡Hola, me llamo ValiantKnight!

 

Nicht zu Danken.

 

Warum nicht?

 

einfach so