http://rossperry.com/roman_bronze_coins.htmlRoman Bronze Coins: From Paganism to ChristianityDue out in April.
"During the seventy-year period covered by Roman Bronze Coins,
Christian symbols on coins increased as that religion gradually replaced the traditional Roman gods as the official state religion. The book begins with the Emperor
Diocletian’s empire-wide coin reform and
his failure to establish
price controls. It transitions into the fourth century where
his successful reorganization of the Roman government paved the way for
Constantine the Great’s thirty year rule that ushered the
Christian transformation.
This convenient, one-volume reference uses the humble bronze coin to trace that story and provide coin collectors several different ways to identify and
catalog the coin:
By ruler or personage
Because so many rulers and personages shared the same name and titles, there are several charts that, by the process of elimination,
help you identify the correct ruler.
By the
reverse type If the
reverse legend is visible, consult the General
Index; if the
reverse scene is visible, crosscheck the coin in the chapter, “Collecting by Theme, the Iconography of the
Reverse.” Generally speaking, new
reverse types for rulers are quiet
rare, but if they exist, this book will
help you spot them quickly.
By
reverse variety
Once you know the
type, you can determine whether this is a variety that has been expanded in this book. The easiest way is to see if there is an asterisk (*) before the
catalog number.
By
mint and year struck
The chapter, “Dating and Controlling the Coins, the Roman Way,” lists different
mint, sequence and other marks and is divided in
exergue and
field markings sections. It also contains speculation as to the meanings of these marks, letters, and
symbols. Consulting the individual
mint city pages will allow, by the process of elimination, the
identification of the year(s) when a particular coin was struck.
By historical context
Once you have determined the year or years that a coin was struck, look in Chapter One, the “
History of the Period and Associated Coin
Types” to see if that coin has been tied to a specific historical event.
The Coin Attribute Reference Chart, in Appendix A, should provide a ready reference for coin dates, names, value,
weight, and other attributes.
The Author
Victor Failmezger is a retired U.S. naval officer, president of Global Initiatives,
Inc., a small, Virginia-based consulting firm, and a principal in a non-profit environmental technology foundation. During
his 22 years in the Navy, he was stationed for many years in Europe (
Italy and
Germany) and was introduced to the avocation of coin collecting. He is a frequent international lecturer on remote sensing and the environment and once a year on
ancient coins to Ms. Steinberg’s third grade class. He holds a Master of Arts, in International Relations from Boston University (BU, 1973) and a Bachelor of Arts, in
History, from Southern Methodist University (SMU, 1969). He is fluent in both
Italian and
German.
The Images
Doug Smith combines
his two hobbies—photography and
ancient coins—in Roman Bronze Coins. A 1968 graduate of Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, majoring in Classics, Doug first photographed
Roman coins for use in a term paper in 1965. He retired from the U.S. Army after spending 20 years as a photographic laboratory technician. He specializes in Eastern
mint denari of
Septimius Severus and technically interesting coins. A desire to learn HTML led to the beginning of
his educational web site in 1997. The first page posted on the website dealt with the question of stirrups shown on coins of
Constantius II and was based on observations made by
his long-time friend,
Victor Failmezger. This book is a continuation of that collaboration."
I'm REALLY looking forward to this and the
price isn't too bad at $49.95 (cheaper if pre-ordered). I think it's a cant-miss, but we'll see.
jericho