I moved away from U.S. coins years ago and so I already understood the “buy the book before the coins” theory. I did of course buy a few ancients early on. What I discovered was that the
hunt for the books can be nearly as challenging as finding the coins you like and that I was/am
buying books and related coins at the same time.
I would stress to the new collectors that
FORUM’s buyback policy is essential to newbies. I was able to return my earliest purchases for credit towards other issues that became more significant for my
area of interest later on. That’s hard to do if your main source is
Ebay.
So the texts I own (not including the very old PDF books collected) I divided into two lists here; introductory texts which are more generalized, and more specialized texts which get into greater detail.
I also sympathize with those who say, “but how many coins could you have bought if you
had not spent so much on books?” Well, to these I say that one of the reasons this list appears a
bit disjointed and is missing a few key books you would expect to find is that most of these titles were purchased on Amazon, used, for under $1.00 (plus $3.99 shipping typically) with the only notable exception being the massive
ERIC II volume which I broke down and bought new.
To accomplish this feat one must be very patient to wait until a used copy is listed and then be very quick to buy it. Many of these texts were on my Amazon wishlist for a long time before I was able to get them at that
price, and most of them are in well used condition but
still fully serviceable. If you are willing to wait, you can get what you want and not break the bank doing it.
This little
library, although far from
complete, has served me well--and I continue to add to it.
Introductory texts:
Ancient Coin Collecting (v. 1) Wayne G. Sayles 1996 197 pages (
Krause Pubns
Inc) ISBN 13: 9780873414425 ISBN 10: 087341442X
Ancient Coin Collecting II (v. 2) Wayne G. Sayles 1997 208 pages (kp books) ISBN 13: 9780873415002 ISBN 10: 0873415000
Ancient Coin Collecting III: The Roman World Politics and Propaganda (v. 3) Wayne G. Sayles 1997 208 pages (
Krause Publications) ISBN 13: 9780873415330 ISBN 10: 0873415337
Ancient Coin Collecting V: The Romaion/Byzantine Culture (v. 5) Wayne G. Sayles 1998 208 pages (
Krause Publications) ISBN 13: 9780873416375 ISBN 10: 0873416376
Selections from the
Numismatist : Ancient and
Medieval Coins
James W.
Curtis 1960 318 pages (
Whitman Publishing Company)
Introduction to East Roman (
Byzantine) Coinage John F.
Lhotka 1989 (Sanford J. Durst) ISBN 13: 9780942666533 ISBN 10: 0942666534
Roman coins (The World of
numismatics) C. H. V
Sutherland 1974 311 pages (Putnam) ISBN 13: 9780399112393 ISBN 10: 0399112391
Coin
Atlas: The World of Coinage from Its Origins to the Present Day, The Joe
Cribb, Barrie
Cook,
Ian Carradice 1990 337 pages (Facts on File) ISBN 13: 9780816020973 ISBN 10: 0816020973
Coins of the Bible Arthur L
Friedberg 2004 (
Whitman Pub) ISBN 13: 9780794819163 ISBN 10: 0794819168
Byzantine coins, (The World of
numismatics) Philip D
Whitting 1973 311 pages (Putnam) ISBN 13: 9780399110283 ISBN 10: 0399110283
100
Greatest Ancient Coins Harlan J.
BerK 2008 131 pages (
Whitman Publishing) ISBN 13: 9780794822620 ISBN 10: 0794822622
Handbook of Ancient Greek and
Roman Coins: An Official
Whitman Guidebook Zander H.
Klawans 1995 287 pages (Western Pub. Co.) ISBN 13: 9780307093622 ISBN 10: 030709362X
More specialized texts:
Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Coinage (
Oxford Handbooks), The William E.
Metcalf 2016 720 pages (
Oxford University Press) ISBN 13: 9780199372188 ISBN 10: 0199372187
Studies in Early
Byzantine Gold Coinage (
Numismatic Studies (
ANSNS)) William E.
Metcalf 1989 144 pages (
American Numismatic Society) ISBN 13: 9780897222259 ISBN 10: 0897222253
Italo-Greek Coins of Southern
Italy - Primary Source Edition Alfred
Watson Hands 2013 226 pages (Nabu Press) ISBN 13: 9781289854188 ISBN 10: 1289854181
Coins of
Magna Graecia. the Coinage of the Greek Colonies of Southern
Italy - Primary Source Edition Alfred
Watson Hands 2014 370 pages (Nabu Press) ISBN 13: 9781294642138 ISBN 10: 1294642138
Greek Coins and Their Values (Hb)
Vol 1: Europe
David R. Sear 1994 318 pages (Batsford Ltd) ISBN 13: 9780713478495 ISBN 10: 0713478497
Greek Coins and Their Values (Volume II
Asia and
Africa) David Sear 1979 444 pages (Numismatic Fine Arts Intl) ISBN 13: 9780713478501 ISBN 10: 0713478500
Catalogue of the Imperial
Byzantine Coins,
Vol. 1 of 2: In the British Museum (Classic Reprint) Warwick
Wroth 2015 432 pages (Forgotten Books) ISBN 13: 9781332110117 ISBN 10: 1332110118
Royal Greek
Portrait Coins Edward T.
Newell 1990 (Sanford J Durst) ISBN 13: 9780942666601 ISBN 10: 0942666607
Handbook of Roman Imperial Coins: A
Complete Guide to the
History,
Types and Values of
Roman Imperial Coinage David
Van Meter 1991 334 pages (Laurion Press) ISBN 13: 9781878420060 ISBN 10: 1878420062
Byzantine Coins (Archaeological Exploration of
Sardis Monograph
Ser : No. 1) George E.
Bates 1971 178 pages (
Harvard University Press) ISBN 13: 9780674089655 ISBN 10: 0674089650
Emperors of
Rome and
Byzantium: Chronological tables for
history students and coin collectors, The David R Sear 1974 160 pages (
Seaby)
Eric II The
Encyclopedia of Roman Imperial Coins Rasiel Suarez 2010 1481 pages (Dirty Old Books) ISBN 13: 9780976466413 ISBN 10: 0976466414
Seaby Coin Encyclopaedia, The Ewald Junge 1993 297 pages (Trafalgar Square) ISBN 13: 9781852640286 ISBN 10: 1852640286
Byzantine Coinage (
Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Collection Publications) Philip
Grierson 1999 76 pages (
Dumbarton Oaks Research
Library and
Collection) ISBN 13: 9780884022749 ISBN 10: 0884022749
Dictionary of Roman Coins, A Seth W.
Stevenson 1982 932 pages (
Spink & Son Ltd) ISBN 13: 9780900652608 ISBN 10: 0900652608
Ancient Coin Collecting IV:
Roman Provincial Coins (v. 4) Wayne G. Sayles 1998 208 pages (
Krause Publications) ISBN 13: 9780873415521 ISBN 10: 0873415523
Greek Coins and Their Values H. A.
Seaby 1966 218 pages (
Seaby) 2nd Edition
Roman Silver Coins, Volume Three:
Pertinax to
Balbinus &
Pupienus H.A.
Seaby 1982 164 pages (
Seaby Publications Ltd.) ISBN 13: 9780900652615 ISBN 10: 0900652616
Roman Silver Coins: The Republic to
Augustus,
Vol. 1 H. A.
Seaby 166 pages (Numismatic Fine Arts Intl) ISBN 13: 9780900652448 ISBN 10: 0900652446
Roman Coins and Their Values
David R. Sear 1981 376 pages (
Seaby (B.A.) Ltd) ISBN 13: 9780900652578 ISBN 10: 0900652578
Roman Silver Coins:
Vol. IV.
Gordian III to
Postumus H.A.
Seaby 1971 137 pages (
Seaby) ISBN 13: 9780900652134 ISBN 10: 0900652136
Roman Silver Coins:
Tiberius to
Commodus,
Vol. 2. H. A.
Seaby 1979 255 pages (Numismatic Fine Arts Intl) ISBN 13: 9780900652486 ISBN 10: 0900652489
Roman Coins and Their Values
David R. Sear 1988 400 pages (Numismatic Fine Arts Intl) ISBN 13: 9780713478235 ISBN 10: 0713478233
Christian Emblems on the Coins of
Constantine I the Great,
His Family and
His Successors Frederic W. Madden 2004 224 pages (Kessinger Publishing, LLC) ISBN 13: 9781432605681 ISBN 10: 1432605682
Roman Silver Coins,
Vol V,
Carausius to
Romulus Augustus C.E.
King, H.A.
Seaby,
David R. Sear 1987 256 pages (Sanford J Durst) ISBN 13: 9780900652806 ISBN 10: 0900652802