Need advice on books for Ancients

I am thinking about getting into ancients and am looking for some advice on books to buy. Are the Seaby 'Roman Silver Coins' volumes I-V any good? What about the Sear "Roman coins and their values"? I understand that the value portion of the Sear books is probably not accurate except as an indication of which coins have a premium, but do they contain other good information?

 

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Both are good to have for reference material. Check ERIC I and II. I would also recommend on-line resources as well. If you are interested, I can provide a detailed list.

 

I just thought of a couple more books you might look into. Check out Ancient Coin Collecting by Wayne Sayles, and Collecting Greek Coins by John Anthony. If you are interested in the Legions of Imperial Rome check out a book by that title by Robert Evans.

 

Just to be clear, I'm not the guy who wrote Collecting Greek Coins. We just happen to share two very common names.

 

ahahaha, JA => do you remember when I asked you about that? (that was a long time ago, brother ... man, I'm amazed that I'm still around!!?)

 

You mean you're amazed that you haven't been banned yet? Me too.

 

Yah, I must admit that I have quite the man-crush on David Sear ... I must own pretty much everything that he's written?

I have a first edition of his Roman Coins and their Values, plus I have 8 other books, including the more modern 4-volumn set of Roman Coins and their Values ... plus, his book on Byzantine Coins and their Values ... plus his book on Greek Imperial Coins and their Values ... plus his 2-volumn set on Greek Coins (Asia, and Europe) ...

=> man, when I actually think about it, it's a bit disturbing, eh?!

*awkward*

 

Thanks, I would love a more complete list. These two series of books are coming up in an auction and I wanted opinions on them specifically, but a more general list would be nice. I have heard about the ERIC I and II books and am waiting for copies to come up. On that note, are the RIC books worth the price?

Sounds like you like the Sear books quite a bit

I have a couple of the Sayles books. They are nice, but I found them to be a bit lacking in terms of a reference book.

 

I love my ERIC II as well ... but it ain't no cheapie!! ($149 US)

=> yah, if I was gonna sink substantial coin into an ERIC book, I would wait until ERIC-III is released (ummm, or is it already out for sale?)

 

Rasiel has a free download of ERIC I here...

http://www.dirtyoldbooks.com/eric.html

He's got the first three books of ERIC II for download at 5 to 8 dollars apiece, which is very cheap.

I like the downloaded pdf versions, because you can search them by legends.

 

I agree about the Sayles books, and personally I don't think you should invest in the RIC volumes until you know that you want/need them. They are important as reference material, but, gosh, they are expensive. I happen to own them, but I've been collecting for over 30 years. Anymore, I am more inclined to use on-line references beasue of the ease they offer in searches.

 

Over the years I got a lot of good out of Roman Silver Coins but I collected mostly early empire coins many of which were silver. There are relatively few silver coins in the last two centuries so RSC V is less valuable than the rest. Exactly where we draw a line between a silver coin and a 'silvered' coin makes the last part of volume IV less valuable but for 250 BC to 250 AD, RSC is a good catalog. There is relatively little information other than the catalog but that is what most of you value.

I am not a fan of ERIC II and could not be a fan of any book with that many pages devoted to relisting catalog numbers and illustrated with photos of only one side of a coin. If you have interest in my opinion, you may read my review:
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=65466.0

My review was done from a galley proof sent to me by the author for the purpose of doing the review. I have never actually touched a final, bound copy. The proof remains in my attic simply because it is unwieldy compared to a bound book but my opinions of it caused me not to spend the $150. Ras said he sent me the proof because I was the only person out there doing book reviews. I do not disagree with him on this and point out that a proper review of so huge a project is no small task in itself. It is not a review to list what is in a book but you must include how it is presented and how it is useful to your daily participation in the hobby. Certainly it is appropriate to mention the quality of the binding and beauty of the photos but a review of true merit would require actually using the book more than I did in the rush we experienced. That is why I was given the galley proof; waiting on the final books would have delayed the review a couple months. I would be interested in hearing if long term users of ERIC II believe my points, positive and negative, were fair. I can see that there might be those looking for something completely different in a book than I was and have been thrilled by such a Herculean effort. Is there a better one volume book on Roman coins? I wish I could say there was but the popular definition of what makes a book good or bad just was not the same as my definition. The review should make that clear. Is there a better use of $150 in educating oneself on Roman coins. I say there is but you will either need to look at it as the first of many $150 chunks you will spend or receive change back from this $150 realizing that you are not really in need of a catalog listing that weighs this much and some other resources would serve as well.

 

=> ahaha man, you always make me smile ... personally, I really like ERIC II, but for whatever reason whenever you say something it always seems to make sense!! (now I feel like selling it!!)

 

No, Steve, just leave it to me in your will along with all those great coins you have been buying. Meanwhile use it at every opportunity and show me where I may have gone wrong. Identify your last 100 Roman coins using ERIC and tell me how it went. Soon it will be dark and cold up there and you will need something to do. Right?

The bottom line is whether a book or a coin or a website or an online group will add materially to each of our enjoyment of the hobby. I hope I have made it clear over the years that I am not interested in guiding others in investments but only in the enjoyment of the hobby. The ultimate review is how much fun we gained through owning the book. Someone else can write the review explaining how the book enabled them to get rich buying ancient coins.

 

Rich?

 

Yah, I wish you weren't so observant => the leaves have already turned colour and have already started to fall ... it was sunny today, but the wind had a real bite to it!! ... yup, it is only a matter of time before the flurries arrive!! (*rats*)

=> oh well, like you said => at least I'll be able to curl-up beside the ol' wood stove and read through ERIC II ... mmmm, it kinda makes ya feel all cozy inside, no?

Hey, maybe I can read it out-loud to my wife and/or to my buddies before Monday Night Football?

 

That's a good one Doug. How to make a small fortune selling coins: first you start with a large fortune...

At any rate, I like Eric II as a primer on Roman coins, purely for the sake of studying designs, legends, mints, etc. Unfortunately, ERIC II does not cross-reference RIC numbers, but since I don't have RIC, it makes little difference to me.

The values are also of little importance as far as I'm concerned. They are only a snapshot in time, and anyway, I'll pay whatever I feel like paying for whatever I want, whenever I want.

 

As I recall ERIC II has RIC cross reference in the far right column along with Cohen where appropriate.

 

just sent you a pm. also you can go to a library and most of them can be ordered threw the mail from other libraries for you to check out free

 

http://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/anc...e_asc&countitems=14&changeDisplayList=&page=1 has roman silver coins books in the clearance section