Heaven help me, now my 10 year old is adding ancient coins to his growing interest (and collections). I'm encouraging him, but I'd like to get him a bit focused on the research and understanding around the coins. He's already an avid Coin World reader, so the interest is there. Are there any good texts on ancients and any standard references? I think he will be focusing on Roman.
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/ is a good site and forum to learn stuff. for grading, just PM me and I'll mail you out a copy of the guide I use. as far as books go ,Handbook of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins by Zander Klawans is great. stainless
the series by Wayne Sales is good for learning about ancients, but its not a reference. The standard reference for Roman Imperial coins is The Roman Imperial Coinage, published in ten volumes, each about $100. An awfully big investment. Thankfully, you have the internet! I mostly use these links, in lieu of books: http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ www.coinarchives.com and, as mentioned, Forvm.
A great guide for beginners is The Handbook of Roman Imperial Coins by David Van Meter, and it is reasonably priced.
I second Victor_clark on Van Meter's and also the 1988's edition of Roman coins and their value, one volume, prices are not accurate any more but give an appreciation of rarity Cucumbor
