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A Compendium Of Reference Works
For The Beginning Collector
General References
Greek
Roman
Greek
Greek Coins And Their Values by David Sear (ISBN 0 7134 7849 7). Printed 1978, 1994, 1995.
2 volumes (volume 1 - Europe, Volume 2 Asia and Africa), 1079 pages, thousands of coins illustrated. Covers many of the most common coins and, at best 40 - 50% of the rest. About due for an updated edition, however do not expect that for years. Available new or used.
Greek Coin Types And Their Identification by Richard Plant (ISBN 0-900652-47-0). Printed 1979.
1 volume, 344 pages, profusely illustrated with hand drawings. Marginal background on Greek coins, but terrific for finding that odd coin that you can't find elsewhere by comparing it to the illustrations. This is not meant to be a standalone reference. Available used.
Dictionary Of Greek Coin Inscriptions by Severin Icard (ISBN 0-915252-31-2). Printed 1929, Durst reprint 1979.
1 volume, 565 pages, no illustrations. The subtitle of this book is; "Identification Of Coins By The Key-Letter and Fragmented Letter Method". A great and useful book for identifying Greek coins from inscription fragments. It takes a little study to use properly, but is well
worth the effort. This is not meant to be a standalone reference. Available new or used.
Historia Numorum, A Manual Of Greek Numismatics by Barclay Head (ISBN ??). Printed 1887, 1911, 1963.
1 volume, 970 pages, few illustrations. Outdated and rarely qouted, but stil luseful as a general Greek reference. Available used.
Roman (general)
Roman Coins And Their Values by David Sear (ISBN 0-7134-7823-3). 4th edition printed 1988.
1 volume, 400 pages, type coin illustrations plus a few others. Good background material. Frequently quoted, considered very useful, but out of date. The 4th edition is useful as an interim reference while
the 5th edition is completed. Please note that earlier editions have a different numbering schema. Available new or used.
The Handbook Of Roman Imperial Coins by David Van Meter (ISBN 1-878420-06-2). Printed 1991, 2000.
1 volume, 334 pages, many illustrations. Considered to be the best alternative to Sear's Roman Coins. A very useful reference with excellent background and tons of information on Roman coins. Not every coin is covered, but it sure tries. Available new or used, hardcover and softcover.
Between Sear and Van Meter, you will have somewhere around 80% of the available Roman coins covered.
Roman Coins And Their Values - Millenium Edition by David Sear (ISBN 1-902040-35-X). 5th edition printed 2000.
1 volume (Republic to the end of the 12 Caesars) with 2 others planned, 532 pages, many coin illustrations. Very good background material. Volumes 2 - 3 will be available in 2002 and later. Eventually Roman Coins will be a comprehensive 3 volume work. Available new.
Coinage And History Of The Roman Empire by David Vagi (ISBN 0-944945-32-5). Printed 1999.
2 volumes (volume 1 - History, volume 2 - coinage), 1294 pages, type coin illustrations.
Volume 1 on history is a great read with lots of information about the rulers and their families, as well as the coins. Volume 2 is somewhat of a disappointment with only a selection of coins listed and wildly inaccurate prices. I cannot recommend it as an attribution guide, but can for the wealth of information that Vagi presents. Available new or used.
Roman Silver Coins And Their Values by David Sear
Volume 1 Republic To Augustus(ISBN ??). 3rd edition printed 1978.
Volume 2 Tiberius To Commodus (ISBN ??). 3rd edition printed 1979.
Volume 3 Pertinax To Pupienus (ISBN 0-900652-61-2). 2nd edition printed 1982.
Volume 4 Gordian III To Postumus (ISBN 0-900652-62-4). 2nd edition printed 1982.
Volume 5 Carausius To Romulus Augustus (ISBN 0-900652-80-2). 1st edition printed 1982.
5 volumes, 934 pages, many illustrations. David Sear considered this series as the companion to his Roman Coins work and it fills in many of the gaps that are found in Roman Coins. As the name implies, it covers Roman silver (AR) coins and does not include the bronze (AE) or silvered denominations of the later empire. Volume 1 in particular is useful for the profuse illustrations of Roman Republic silver coins. Each volume is available individually. Volume 1 available used, volumes 2-5 available new or used.
Dictionary Of Roman Coin Inscriptions by Stewart Westdahl (ISBN 0-915262-72-X). Durst reprint in 1995.
1 volume, 140 pages, 2 illustrations. This is basically an inscription
look-up guide and contains a wealth of inscriptions from the Republic, Imperial Rome and Roman Provinces.
This is not meant to be a standalone reference. Available new and used.
A Dictionary Of Roman Coins by Seth W Stevenson (ISBN ??). Printed 1889, reprinted in 1964.
1 volume, 929 pages, some hand drawn illustrations. Somewhat outdated, it is an
excellent source of Roman coin minutiae. One of my personal favorites for all of the information that it provides. Available used.
A Dictionary Of Ancient Roman Coins by John Melville Jones (ISBN 1-85264-026-X). Printed 1990.
1 volume, 329 pages, some illustrations. This book was intended as a suppliment to
the work by Stevenson (above) with added and updated entries. Available new or used.
Roman Imperial Coinage by Mattingly & Sydenham et al (ISBN ??). Printed 1923 - 1998.
Volume I Augustus to Vitellius 304 pages, 32 plates.
Volume II Vespasian to Hadrian 568 pages, 16 plates
Volume III Antoninus Pius to Commodus 514 pages, 16 plates
Volume IV Pertinax to Unranius Antoninus 867 pages, 45 plates
Volume V Valerian to Amandus (2 parts) 1125 pages, 32 plates
Volume VI Diocletian's Reform to Maximianus 727 pages, 16 plates
Volume VII Constantine to Licinius 778 pages, 24 plates
Volume VIII The Family Of Constantine 659 pages, 28 plates.
Volume IX Valentinian to Theodosius 334 pages, 16 plates.
Volume X The Divided Empire and the Fall of the Western Parts 470 pages, 80 plates.
10 volumes plus supplements, each volume has several plates of type coins. A standard reference series for Roman Imperial coinage. There is extensive background material included in each volume. The rarity ratings are considered out of date and generally inaccurate. The last update was volume 5, which in 2 parts. Other updates are planned but publication data is not available. RIC is available as a set or as individual volumes so you can grow the series as your interests expand. Available new or used.
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