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RIC versus Sear Five Volumes

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Virgil H:
Hi all,
I like hard copy coin references. Lately, my main concern has been getting Hoover's Greek Coin volumes, not inexpensive, but doable, I have three volumes so far and there are a couple more at least that I want, I buy one every month or so. I also have a few other more specialized books, such as van Haaff's Coins of Elymais. I am just getting into Roman coins and, to be honest, while I like them, I am not sure how far I will go with them. I tend to buy coins based on what I like that fits my pretty low budget. Late Roman bronzes fit my budget often. And, perhaps unfortunately, my collecting interests are very wide and I have realized that will probably never change, although I do some specializations that I would call minor, but I am actually all over the place in terms of interests. I have come to terms with that.

So, my question here is, for Roman coins, do I have to have RIC volumes? Or, is the Sears five volume work any good and relevant? Or, do I just rely on online sources like OCRE, which actually seems not a bad way to go. I have the two Sear volumes that cover Roman Empire and Greek Imperial. I find all the Sear books, including the Greek ones I have, very lacking in specifics. Maybe the multi-volume Roman series is better. All I know is I cannot afford RIC. One volume for me is six months of coin budget and I am just not willing to sacrifice the coin for the book in this case (and I spend quite a bit on books). I could see getting the Sear books, I can't see getting RIC at this point when I am on a severe budget for any purchases related to my coin collecting, especially with inflation worse than most people alive today have ever seen and I personally remember such inflation in late 70s-early 80s. It is crazy how much inflation is affecting me, I had forgotten how bad it could be if you were a wage worker or on a fixed income.

What do you think?

Jay GT4:
I bought the Sear millenial first, which I used all the time.  Then I got the others,  but to be honest I haven't really used them.  In fact I don't think I've ever cracked open the others. They are brand new sitting on my shelf.  Not because they're not good or useful, but because I bought the Flavian edition of RIC.  I'm focusing on Vespasian and Titus at the moment, so RIC is all I need.  I use RIC every day.  It's just much more in depth than the same passages in Sear.  So, I would say if you're going to specialize, get RIC.  If you have broad interests then Sear is good enough.  The major types are in there. 

Virgil H:
Thanks Jay, I suspected that answer. My problem is I am not specialized enough. I keep thinking I will do that, but it hasn't happened in terms of specializing. But, Roman coins are a new thing for me, I have always been more focused on Greek.

Thanks,
Virgil

DzikiZdeb:
It seems to me that if you do not want to specialize in a certain period of time, on-line sources - OCRE or wildwinds - are enough for you. The problem with Sear is that sooner or later you'll come across a coin that you won't find there. Of course, you can treat it as a good book about Roman coinage in general, but with this approach it is better to buy some old, one-volume edition (II-IV). They're cheap and readily available - you'll spend $ 10-20 instead of $ 300 for the five-volume millennium edition.

Lech Stępniewski:

--- Quote from: DzikiZdeb on March 17, 2022, 03:00:37 am ---buy some old, one-volume edition (II-IV).

--- End quote ---

Also old Van Meter will do quite well - as a general overview of Roman coinage.

And as for the RIC. I don't want to encourage you for something illegal but there are scans of RIC (old editions). You can at least look at them, treating this like browsing through a book in a bookstore. Then you will know if you need this level of detail at all.

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