Looking for Help in Understanding Ancient Coins and Descriptions

Saw this listed under a description of a Roman Coin;
Syd 507 Sear 133 Craw 257/1

I looked at dozens of Glossary pages on the internet but have not yet found the explanation for the above. I'm sure there must be a book similar to "The Red Book of U.S. Coins" but I don't know of a title.

Can someone suggest a good "book of Ancient Coins" to help me understand the jargon ?

Thanks.

 

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I believe those are the books/pages that the coin in question can be found.
As for a good book to start with...I can't help too much, though I can give you some good websites that helped me if you are interested.

 

Those stand for reference books/catalogs: Sydenham's The Coinage of the Roman Republic, Sear's Roman Coins and Their Values, and Crawford's Roman Republican Coinage.

A great introduction to the field of ancient numismatics is Wayne Sayles' Ancient Coin Collecting.

 

most of those names are abbrev. P).. Craw.= Crawford, Sear= Sear..and i reckon Syd. would be Sydney..but idk on that one for sure...go ahead and give'em sumpin there to start with @furryfrog02

 

Since "ancients" is a huge area of numismatics, there is no one "Red Book" catalogue that can cover the whole field in any depth. "Syd" refers to E.A. Sydenham's "The Coinage of the Roman Republic", "Sear" is David R. Sear's "Roman Coins and Their Values", and "Craw" is M.H. Crawford's "Roman Republican Coinage". All are standard catalogues for Roman Republican coins (Sear is the most recent, and also covers the Imperial period). The numbers are the type numbers in the given catalogues. I think the best general introduction to ancient numismatics is the "Ancient Coin Collecting" series by Wayne Sayles. Volume I is a general overview, while other volumes cover Greek, Roman, etc. in more detail. If you are getting interested in ancient coins, I would strongly recommend buying volume I of Sayles, then going from there to read about particular sub-areas that are of most interest to you. Good luck, and please check back if you want help in a specific area, or just to chat about ancient coins in general.

 

I would certainly appreciate that, frog.

Thanks to all who replied. I spent a couple hours trying to research that info.
I wanted to exhaust MY time before coming here.
Thanks again.

 

we're always happy to help in anyway for those who are interested in "the dark side" (ancients)..hope you find what you're looking for and stay with us!

 

This is the first thing beginners need to learn about ancients. You will never find a book that covers the whole subject. Books that cover a significant part tend to be published in multiple volumes due to their size. A complete library on ancient coins would include more books than there are numbers in a Red Book. One thing you might get out of Coin Talk is some help finding answers without having to read every one of those books. Between the bunch of us, we might know 2-3% of what we wish we did but occasionally we get lucky and know the easy ones. This is not a hobby for those who need to know it all but we have fun.

 

@Silver Eagle
Here are a couple of great sites to check out in order to start you down the path on learning about ancients:

1) CT's very own @dougsmit has an amazing website that has so much information. I have been collecting for about 8ish months and have been steadily reading through all the information on his site. I've learned a ton and am still not even close to having read everything.
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/

2) The Augustus coins beginner's page is a great start. I still haven't begun to crack the surface of all the information here.
http://augustuscoins.com/ed/index.html

 

Just wanted to flag something from my last post. I failed to give credit where credit was due regarding http://augustuscoins.com/ed/index.html. That site is also CT's very own @Valentinian 's site. I didn't mean to slight him I just didn't know at the time. Thanks for the great page!

 

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancient-coins-beginners’-faq-thread.324858/#post-3206438

 

Thanks for all the links. I ordered a "used copy" of
Ancient Coin Collecting (volume I) by Wayne G. Sayles 2nd Edition Publication Year: 2003
(must save money for coins )

I put the "Roman Coins" Book, by the same author, on my wish list for now.

 

With all that, can you refer me to any books or sites covering coins of the Bible or the particular time period?

 

Perhaps @Deacon Ray could steer you in the right direction. He has quite a robust collection that focuses on that I believe.

 

This is "the most popular reference ever written for Biblical and Jewish coins"

David Hendin Guide to Biblical Coins

 

Thanks! I'll check it out.

 

Sydenham

 

ah..i didn't think i had it right.....thanks!)

 

Silver Eagle. I do have some others, too, here are 2 titles, maybe of interest. "Greek Coins & Cities" by Norman Davis. Illustrations from Seattle Art Museum. Publ. 1967.
Then there is "An Official Whitman Guidebook" = "Handbook of Ancient Greek & Roman Coins" by Zander Klawans. U.S.A., 2015. If your finances are somewhat strained, you might visit a good Library, asking for Numismatics section, or Coins.
Lastly, a fantastic invention called the Internet !

 

You are on the right track with Wayne Sayles "Ancient Coin Collecting" as it is a very big bang for the buck. The other four books covering ancient coins make a wonderful part of any numismatists library. As you specialize, you can go to them as needed. This is my hobby, I do it for fun. You will always find good info and help on this site as well. Enjoy....