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A Compendium Of Reference Works
For The Beginning Collector
General References
Greek
Roman
Books, books, glorious books!!
There is something very satisfying about curling up in a comfortable chair, with a favored beverage and a good book. The same can be said for relaxing with an unknown coin and your favorite reference. A great way to spend a little quality time with yourself and your hobby. It is also a good way to get away (at least for a little bit) from the events of the day.
Just you and your coins.
If you are into coin collecting for any length of time, you will eventually run across the advice that says 'buy the book before you buy the coin'. Wise advice, but not always practical since the choice frequently comes down to buying the book or the coin, but not both. And collectors (especially those starting out in this great hobby) frequently have no idea what book or books would give them the most for the money.
That being said, you can think of your book purchases as a form of an investment. Not only in your education as a collector, which is always a good idea, but as a minor financial one as well. Reference books tend to keep a large part of their value over time since most of them are published as limited or very small runs. Once out of print (unless superceded by a later edition) they may even rise in value.
(One good example, the "Greek Imperial Countermarks" reference by Howgego, printed in 1985 and now out of print, originally sold for less than $100. Now, if you can find one, it will cost you more than $200, usually much more. And those that find it for $200+ are happy to pay it.)
Before you go out to hunt the elusive ancient coin reference book, there are a few points to keep in mind:
- Be aware that some of the more popular reference works (for example those by David Sear)
go through periodic updates and revisions. Those revisions may include an updated numbering
system for the coins listed. So always try to find the latest edition.
- No single reference will cover every coin for a particular collecting area! Whether Roman, Greek
or whatever. At best, a book may cover 70%, at worst much less than that. So, when they are available,
you will need several books to give reasonably complete coverage.
- Prices, value bands and rarity numbers can be safely ignored. At least for the most part. Use them
for reference only and not as an absolute value indicator. Most books are out of date with rarity and
prices as soon as they are published, if not before.
Where To Find Them
There are a number of booksellers that specialize in ancient coin books. Plus many dealers will keep a
small stock of the more popular reference works. My favorite method is to use one of the book search engines that will do most of the leg work for me. The sorely missed Bibliofind went bye-bye last year,
but there are several that are taking up where Bibliofind left off.
All of the following book search engines allow you to enter a title or author's name, some also allow the ISBN number. They will return a listing of new or used books from booksellers all over the world. Compare
the prices and don't forget the shipping charges. Note that most of these searches depend on a network of booksellers and the same entry may occur on more than one site.
Bookfinder.com
abebooks.com
alibris.com
Booksold
Bookavenue.com
When you are really stuck, several of the large books sellers (for example Barnes and Noble) have book finding services that will search for hard-to-find or out-of-print books. Beware that you will be paying
top dollar for anything that they find.
If you cannot find what you are looking for or cannot afford the price, check your local library. The US
has a library system that is second to none, books that are not available in one may be available through an inter-library loan. It is worth checking out.
Or you can try your local college or university. You may be surprised what they have hidden away in a dusty stack somewhere.
General Reference Works
Ancient Coin Collecting Series by Wayne Sayles
Volume I Ancient Coin Collecting (ISBN 0-87341-442-X). Printed 1996.
Volume II Numismatic Art of the Greek World (ISBN 0-87341-500-0). Printed 1997.
Volume III The Roman World - Politics and Propaganda (ISBN 0-87341-533-7). Printed 1997.
Volume IV Roman Provincial Coins (ISBN 0-87341-552-3). Printed 1998.
Volume V The Romaion/Byzantine Culture (ISBN 0-87341-637-6). Printed 1998.
Volume VI Non-Classical Cultures (ISBN 0-87341-753-4). Printed 1999.
6 volume series, variable number of pages, many illustrations. Hugely popular with collectors of all
levels of experience. Each volume contains a wealth of information about the target culture, from
historical background to coinage information. The level of information packed into each slim volume
makes them a must for all collectors and at less than $25 each, they are highly affordable. These are not meant to be standalone references. Each volume is available individually. Available new or used.
Ancient Coin Reference Reviews by Dennis Kroh (ISBN 0-9638751-0-8). 1st edition printed 1993.
1 volume, 107 pages, no illustrations. This is, literally, a book on books. It lists virtually
all of the reference works in existence when first printed in 1993, which includes a large number of the ones available today. Each entry is catagorized by type and given a rating of 1 to 5 stars, along with
a short comment. Very useful for finding just the right book. Available used.
Handbook Of Ancient Greek And Roman Coins by Zander Klawans (ISBN 0-307-09362-X). Printed 1995.
1 volume, 288 pages, many illustrations, brief background information. Meant as a mass media
guide to Greek and Roman coinage, it has some good information but little overall use to the average
collector. Available new or used.
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