I'm begining with roman coins and I want to buy a book. What is the more indicate in my case?
I agree with the two other posters. Start with
Van Meter.
Van Meter is a basic reference to
Roman Imperial Coins and he includes many, many true size photos of the coins that you are likely to come across. The other advantage is that VM is inexpensive and easily available, (including here at the
Forum).
VM is a great first book to have, as you try to decide if you really like the hobby or not. Should the hobby really grab you, as it has so many of us, you will want to purchase many
other books of a more specializied and more acedemic nature. Because even though VM is a
good inexpensive reference, it does contain some errors, and even though something like 1000 coins are photographed and 8000 are listed, it is
still only gives a very brief overview of the coins.
The Sear books are
very good books also, but they are considerably more expensive, and again they only give an overview of the vast number of
Roman Imperial coins. They are a
good second purchase, once you decide upon a first
area to specialize in.
After, the Sear books, there are yet other layers of references to ponder, but the
price on these more acedemic books is a lot more.
Take some time and enjoy the hobby, there is
plenty of time to decide what you like, and then start saving your pennies to buy the more expensive references.
Robert