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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 2086736, member: 19463&quot;]For what it is worth, I reviewed Vagi back when it came out.</p><p><a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/book.html#vagi" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/book.html#vagi" rel="nofollow">http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/book.html#vagi</a></p><p>It turned out that I liked it better than most people.&nbsp; I think the thing that really killed it was his decision to list a few rare types for each emperor separately and then lump all the others as a unit with one set of prices according to grade.&nbsp; In fact, this probably is realistic since most people don&#039;t buy Roman coins for the reverses but just want a portrait set unless there is a special type that is both harder to find and more interesting.&nbsp; The books were large and full of good information but would have sold better with more photos.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Regarding style:&nbsp; I really agree that more emphasis should be placed on the matter of fine style but I disagree with the way most people apply this.&nbsp; I once read a dealer&#039;s opinion that the only denarii of Septimius Severus worth collecting were from the last years at Rome because the others were just crude and ugly.&nbsp; I say that there are better and lesser dies from each mint and each period of time.&nbsp; It is quite appropriate to seek out well done dies within a group but a collection will be deficient if coins are only gathered from one mint because it was the best (whatever definition of best is used).&nbsp; That is a bit like the prevailing opinion a century or more ago that the finest work of Greek art was Apollo Belvedere which is now somewhere way below also-ran status in most opinions.&nbsp;&nbsp; At the same time, anything Archaic was considered crude.&nbsp; Style preferences change just as do collecting emphases.&nbsp; I believe David Vagi is trying to point out that there are VF 4/5 4/5 coins that are more desirable than another EF 5/5 5/5 of the same type.&nbsp; There was a time that I avoided one dealer because it seemed that he specialized in high grade coins of poor style.&nbsp; Eye appeal still means more to some of us than grade.&nbsp; I look forward to more people recognizing that style is an important consideration and am happy to see someone of the stature of David Vagi is promoting this view.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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