I am not sure of the exact rules about commercialism on CT, so I will try to go about this in an indirect way. I have always been an advocate of collectors buying books and often there are good opportunities to pick up some nice references inexpensively. I am not selling any of the RIC volumes myself and have no association with anyone who is. But I popped onto Ebay this morning for the first time in a while and spotted a couple RIC volumes someone really ought to snap up! I wont give a direct link to the auctions as that may violate rules. So, just go to Ebay and type "Roman Imperial Coinage" into the search box and you will see the bargains I saw. Buy more books!
I don't know if it is appropriate either but I'll become an accessory by pointing out there is also a copy of Bruck that comes up when you do the search. I like that book. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/book.html#bruck As a warning, RIC volume IV was first issued in three separately bound parts and later as all three in one. Right now there is a copy of the whole thing cheaper than a copy of part three by itself. You want the whole thing. There are also several copies of certain volumes at very different prices. Volume VIII came with a dust jacket but the cover under it is the same green cloth as the others. You decide how much extra you pay for a dust jacket. Disclaimer: I do not own all the volumes of RIC. I prefer the British Museum Catalogs for the years they cover so I never bought RIC I to III. Since that decision was made, they started releasing new versions of those early volumes but I still have not bought them. I consider volume V dated but do like VI, VII and VIII a lot if you collect Diocletian through Jovian. I agree but shop smart! Just like coins, there are good books and junk books and good prices and gougers. If you want junk books at high prices, let me know and I will sell you some of the mistakes I made years ago. I keep telling myself I should add more book reviews to my website but I spend too much time posting things on Coin Talk (that's the excuse I'm using). The hard part would be deciding which to do first. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/book.html
I, too, am a big fan of ancient-coin books. We collect coins to have them and enjoy them because of what we know about them. As bits of metal they are not worth much, but if you know their stories, they can be worth a lot. This forum is great, but if you want deeper knowledge, read ancient-coin books. In fact, they are collectable and you can just as proud to own books as you are to own coins. After all, what you love is all in your mind anyway, and if you have read books, you will have more in your mind.
