I recently picked up a new Achaian League
Catalogue by
Benner, Steve M., Ph.D. entitled, Achaian League Coinage of the 3rd Through 1st Centuries B.C.E. [Classical
Numismatic Studies No. 7]. Lancaster, PA and
London, U.K., 2008.
The
catalogue begins with a
history of the Achaian League. It assumes that the reader has a general understanding of the Peloponnesian wars and the general political state of
Greece during the various iterations of the League's existence. The
history is rudimentary and abbreviated which I found a little strange in a book focusing exclusively on Achaian League coinage.
In the next three well-organized sections,
Benner distills information from the 96
BCD LHS
Catalogue, Warren's Bronze coinage of the Achaian League, Clerk's
Catalog of Achaian League coins and other Achaian League references. He provides helpful information and tables with information on
monograms, magistrates and issue dates. He then combines the information into a list of each silver and bronze issue including dates of issue, attributions from other sources,
monograms, and photographs. Although Benner's
work is exclusively a compilation of other already available information, it really is the only source I've seen that contains all the updated information a collector would want to attribute Achaian League coins in an easy to use format that is well-referenced. Definitely a worthwhile buy for a specialist collector and certainly worth a read for someone who wants a general understanding of the Achaian League and its coinage.
