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Author Topic: Basic Reference Book for Coinage of the Republic  (Read 806 times)

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Offline Ken W2

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Basic Reference Book for Coinage of the Republic
« on: October 25, 2022, 04:59:36 pm »

Hey folks:  I've recently acquired a few denarii from the Republican period and, for better or worse, I'm developing an interest in that period, especially post introduction of the denarius.  After some research, my sense is Sydenham's The Coinage of the Roman Republic appears to be a good and affordable general reference, and given the degree to which it is cited in attributions it obviously is accepted as authorative.  I'd welcome your thoughts about that work as a general reference and other recommendations you may have. 

Thanks in advance.

Ken     

Offline DzikiZdeb

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Re: Basic Reference Book for Coinage of the Republic
« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2022, 03:22:45 am »
Sydenham's book is 70 years old and I don't know if any changes have been made to it.

If it seems to me, the primary reference to the republic is Crawford. It is reprinted all the time and as far as I can see small changes are sometimes made to new reprints. The last reprint in paperback was quite recent (2019?) and I am surprised that it is no longer available. Perhaps you should write to the publishing house to see if they have copies yet, and if not, when are they planning the next reprint.

PS. On publisher webpage there's information RRC will be aviable again this month: https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/classical-studies/ancient-history/roman-republican-coinage?format=WX&isbn=9781108753500

Online Pekka K

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Re: Basic Reference Book for Coinage of the Republic
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2022, 04:18:18 am »

Elyshh K

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Re: Basic Reference Book for Coinage of the Republic
« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2022, 04:34:39 am »
The standard catalog of World Coins, 1800-1901 by Chester L.Krause And Clifford Mishler is a comprehensive reference book for 19th-century coins.

Offline mauseus

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Re: Basic Reference Book for Coinage of the Republic
« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2022, 07:08:29 am »
Hi,
I suppose it depends what you are after.  I have CrawfordSydenham and  the Seaby volume. All three list the  Republican coins known,  obviously the Sear only silver.  The advantage of Crawford and Sydenham over Seaby is the narrative they both contain.  Crawford has been revised since the 1974 first edition,  whereas,  Sydenham has not. I use my Crawford and have only consulted Sydenham once I think.

Regards,

Mauseus

Offline Ken W2

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Re: Basic Reference Book for Coinage of the Republic
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2022, 09:36:27 am »

Thanks for the responses all.  I have the RSC set and do attribute to it.  But it seems there is little mint attribution in the listings and I don't see any general discussion of mint loctions in the intro sections.  I know I'm just scratching the surface so far, but that has me wondering is there little information about exact mint locations in the Republic or is it known that most issues were minted in Rome.  Perhaps I have just overlooked something in my reading.  I'll definitely check out Crawford before buying.  Thanks again.   

Offline Virgil H

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Re: Basic Reference Book for Coinage of the Republic
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2022, 09:43:09 pm »
Unfortunately, Crawford is insanely expensive from what I have seen. I haven't found any books on Republican coins that are affordable. I have Sear's Roman Coins and Their Values, but it is not comprehensive. especially for Republican coins. And I don't collect them enough to justify the expense. So, for these I use online sources. I buy books for areas I am interested in, but the Republican coin books are all far too high priced.

Virgil

Offline Jordan Montgomery

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Re: Basic Reference Book for Coinage of the Republic
« Reply #7 on: October 27, 2022, 03:21:12 pm »
Crawford and Sydenham are both out of date in some ways, but Crawford is still the one you want. Cambridge say there are more reprints coming and they even say they're going to be available from October 2022 here: https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/classical-studies/ancient-history/roman-republican-coinage?format=WX&isbn=9781108753500 at a pretty reasonable price. Unfortunately they seem to update this page every month saying it's going to be available that month and they haven't actually popped up for sale yet, but that's what I'd wait for. Don't spend big money on an expensive first edition unless you really want the better plates that it offers, which are less important with the advent of the internet, wait for a more reasonably priced paperback reprint.
Gallery of my collection with notes and discussion of Republican history and numismatics

Offline Virgil H

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Re: Basic Reference Book for Coinage of the Republic
« Reply #8 on: October 27, 2022, 05:11:19 pm »
Thanks for that Jordan. I can see spending that much on those Cambridge books. Curious if you know, are the plates in the reprints readable?

Thanks,
Virgil

Offline Carausius

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Re: Basic Reference Book for Coinage of the Republic
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2022, 06:36:28 pm »
Sydenham is useful for descriptions, for rarity ratings of the coins and for its plates, and not much else.  It's arrangement of the coinage was superceded by Thomsen's rational reassessment of the date of the denarius and by subsequent hoard analyses. 

Seaby RSC is arranged by Cohen's "gens" method, alphabetically by family name, which is an easy arrangement for finding coins (if you know the gens) but not at all scientific. 

Crawford is much better than either of the above.  There have been updates to Crawford's dating of certain issues over the years - notably Mattingly's article in Essay's Hersh and some other articles.  However, Crawford remains the standard rederence for the series.  If cost is an issue, try to get the paperback edition or another reprint, as noted above.

Offline Jordan Montgomery

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Re: Basic Reference Book for Coinage of the Republic
« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2022, 06:40:23 pm »
Thanks for that Jordan. I can see spending that much on those Cambridge books. Curious if you know, are the plates in the reprints readable?

Thanks,
Virgil

The plates in the paperback reprints are perfectly usable and actually pretty good. I highly recommend the paperback reprints from Cambridge especially at the $100 or so price point.
Gallery of my collection with notes and discussion of Republican history and numismatics

Offline Virgil H

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Re: Basic Reference Book for Coinage of the Republic
« Reply #11 on: October 27, 2022, 07:29:50 pm »
Thanks Jordan, and Michael. I have added Crawford reprints to my list to check and to buy when available. I find myself quite interested in Republican coins lately.

Virgil

Offline Ken W2

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Re: Basic Reference Book for Coinage of the Republic
« Reply #12 on: November 06, 2022, 12:51:52 am »

So, I picked up a Sydenham reprint fairly in expensively. At first was happy to see a discussion of mints and mint attributions although at times they are not definite. Sydenham attributes the attached SEX PO ROMA and Anonymous ROMA she-wolf and twins denari to an Italian mint and not Rome.  However, the sellers of both attributed to Rome. RSC I provides no mint attribution. I’ll enjoy having Sydenham as a basic reference but likely will get Crawford when the affordable paperbacks are available again. Is mint attribution one of the ares in which Crawford was able to improve on earlier work like Sydenham?

Offline Virgil H

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Re: Basic Reference Book for Coinage of the Republic
« Reply #13 on: November 10, 2022, 11:28:52 pm »
So, I wrote Cambridge Press about the availability of the Crawford reprints and how the availability keeps changing. Here is the answer. Hopefully, this might be a late Christmas present to myself. LOL.

The estimated availability date for the Roman Republican Coinage 2 Volume Paperback Set in the US will be December 22, 2022, but this may change without prior notice.

Virgil

Offline Ken W2

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Re: Basic Reference Book for Coinage of the Republic
« Reply #14 on: November 12, 2022, 05:30:22 pm »

Thanks Virgil.  I’ll be watching for it too.

 

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