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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 3156977, member: 19463&quot;]There was a book attempting to do all for Roman Imperial coins.&nbsp; It did not cover Roman Republican or any other ancient coins. </p><p>It came in two volumes:</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Coinage-history-Roman-Empire-B-C/dp/0944945295/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1533821500&amp;sr=8-1-fkmr1&amp;keywords=vagi+roman+coins" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.amazon.com/Coinage-history-Roman-Empire-B-C/dp/0944945295/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1533821500&amp;sr=8-1-fkmr1&amp;keywords=vagi+roman+coins" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Coinage-history-Roman-Empire-B-C/dp/0944945295/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1533821500&amp;sr=8-1-fkmr1&amp;keywords=vagi roman coins</a></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Coinage-History-Roman-Empire-II/dp/0944945317/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1533821500&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=vagi+roman+coins" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.amazon.com/Coinage-History-Roman-Empire-II/dp/0944945317/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1533821500&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=vagi+roman+coins" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Coinage-History-Roman-Empire-II/dp/0944945317/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1533821500&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=vagi roman coins</a></p><p><br /></p><p>I liked the books a lot but you should not rush out and buy a set without understanding HOW the book worked.</p><p><br /></p><p>The first volume was just a history of the period that produced the coins.&nbsp; If you already know all this or if you don&#039;t care about history you can skip this volume.&nbsp; If you don&#039;t care about history, you probably won&#039;t be a long term ancient collector.&nbsp; The two go together.</p><p><br /></p><p>Volume two covered coins in a unique manner.&nbsp; Each emperor was listed and prices given for several grades of his coins.&nbsp; Nothing was given to list reverse types available but just &quot;Nero&quot; &quot;VF&quot; and a price which was a guesstimate then based on the author&#039;s experience and might need some intelligent modifications to allow for the last 20 years.&nbsp; After the general listing, the author pointed out a few &#039;special&#039; reverses that carried higher prices.&nbsp; For example he listed garden variety VF Nero sestertii at $500 to $800 but specifically listed the popular Port of Ostia type at $3000 to $5000.</p><p><br /></p><p>Many people missed the point and were upset that no mention was made of the reverse type they owned.&nbsp; Those types were considered part of the first general group.&nbsp; To get a separate listing a type had to make the special list.&nbsp; Certainly we all might have opinions and disagree on where he drew the line between mutts and purebreds but his way was really the only way to cover the material in a book less than ten feet thick.&nbsp;&nbsp; People who had the experience to understand the book may not have needed it and people who needed it still believed that the Red Book or Spink catalog was better.</p><p><br /></p><p>My recommendation would be to buy/read the books on coin that do not deal with values and do your value research online remembering that there have been coins that sold for half or double what the same specimen brought 20 years earlier.&nbsp; David Vagi listed ranges like $3000 to $5000 which was only for VF coins of one type.&nbsp; All Nero sestertii in all grades were listed from $50 to $15,000.&nbsp; You are expected to figure out which coins it in which category. </p><p><br /></p><p>We get the book question here regularly but the answer will never change.&nbsp; Any book that did what new collectors want would be beyond impossible to write and so expensive no one would buy it.&nbsp; Few of us here on Coin Talk have seen 1% of all types of ancient coins.&nbsp; Our most expert members may go for a period of weeks without seeing something new but most of us learn something every day.&nbsp; We are not able to hold all our experience in head so we have resources that we check when needed.&nbsp; That includes libraries (we have members with over a thousand books or other bound references) and the constantly growing online materials.&nbsp; Not all answers to all questions will come immediately if at all.&nbsp; Questions supported by FULL information, good photos of both sides and careful wording so we know what is being asked have a much better chance of being answered or even taken seriously by someone who might be able to help with a suggestion on where you might look to have a chance of a good answer.&nbsp; I am sure the &#039;best&#039; book question is one that will never be answered fully.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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