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Author Topic: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?  (Read 48412 times)

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Offline David Atherton

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Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« on: May 03, 2005, 11:39:12 am »
I seen in another post that there is a book available called "Coinage in Roman Egypt: The Hoard Evidence" and I was wondering if anyone could recommend any other books about Roman Egyptain coinage?

Seems like an fascinating subject to me.

Offline Steve Minnoch

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #1 on: May 03, 2005, 02:53:28 pm »
I can't help much on books, but this link contains a number of scanned articles and complementary items:

http://www.coinsofromanegypt.org/html/library/works_index.htm#works

Steve

Offline David Atherton

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #2 on: May 03, 2005, 09:01:38 pm »
Wow! Thanks so much Steve.

Until I receive my books, that link will suffice very nicely!

Offline Severus_Alexander

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #3 on: May 05, 2005, 12:45:00 pm »
Here's a write up of the references of Roman Egypt for coins of Severus Alexander.  It's from http://www.severusalexander.com/References.htm

Thank you.

Kevin

Alexandrian Coins by Keith Emmett (Emmett)
This reference is exclusively for Alexandrian coinage (Egypt) and contains an extensive cataloging system that allows for new coins, rarity, drawing of all coin obverses and reverses, maps and a concordance to other references.   The best new reference on this Alexandrian coinage for Severus Alexander or any other emperor.   A great deal at $49.95.
 
Catalog of Alexandrian Coins by J. G. Milne (Milne)
Another reference on just Alexandrian Coinage, this one has a good introduction and plate types.   Most coins of Severus Alexander for Alexandria are listed. Definitely worth $55.
 
Tetradrachms of Roman Egypt by James W. Curtis (Curtis)
A catalogue of over 2000 coins, with introduction, rarity guides, index, and history. This new reprint incorporates an additional 1200 illustrations from the catalogues of several dealers. Additionally, there are two articles by Milne: "The Leaden Token-Coinage of Egypt Under the Romans" and "The Currency of Egypt in the Fifth Century."  Good coverage of Severus Alexander.  $55
 
Coins of Alexandria and the Nomes British Museum Catalogue by Poole (BMC Alexandria)
A limited number of coins and plates are within this reference for Severus Alexander but still a useful reference.  Not easy to find and expensive at around $100.

Offline iwaniw

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #4 on: August 29, 2007, 10:44:58 pm »
I just wish to add a few comments of my own.

1. Emmett: It was designed to be exhaustive in scope but it is more like a reverse type catalog by Emperor/ denomination/ reverse type and regnal date. It provides a rarity value for each coin from R1 to R5. The regnal dates for each ruler are given with the general obverse types on the coins. Obverse inscriptions are given as a general guide only. There is reverse type index at the back and one reference per coin is given a citation to another collection.

The reverse type catalog is in alphabetic order. One can assign an emmett number in under 30 seconds. It is independent of RPC. Future editions will likely add any missing types/dates. It is likely there will be some rarity value changes in any future editions (usually +/- 1 unit.

2. Milne: Catalog primarily of the coins donated by Milne to the Asmolean Museum, Oxford England. It's an extensive collection, very precise descriptions of the obverse types (likely still ahead of its time). It relies on extensive cataloging information at the back of the book (a pain at times). It can be problematic for new collectors to use. Obverse inscriptions among the most reliable and reverse date placements are very accurate. One can absorb a lot of information from different parts of the book. It's about as extensive in scope as the ANS collection.

3. Curtis. Catalog of only silver (primarily tetradrachm) coins. Likely lists about half of the known tetradrachms. Well detailed information with several unique specimens. Individual rarity values of a given coin much more reliable than the general rarity classification by ruler.

4. BMC Alexandria. Interesting early Alexandrian catalog containing a large number of extremely rare coins but at times missing some very common ones. A landmark collection-- well researched and built on the previous Feuardent and Mionnet catalogs. The coin plates are well worth the price of the book. Christiansen recently published additions and corrections to the collection.

*** Digital file free at the Digital Library Numis ***

5. Dattari. Probably the finest Alexandrian collection ever created. Written in Italian, but easy to use. Coin plates of all the types are the best anywhere. Some date reading problems occur in the catalog and there are other errors not cited in the errata. Recently Bernardi published a large volume of the original Dattari coin rubbings (along with 7000 additional coins not described). If you purchase the Dattari book also get the Bernardi book. These volumes are for the specialist. Date placements are not as accurate as Milne or BMC.  Still in print, but hard to find in the US.

 new Mar. 2015: *** Pdf of Dattari's book is available at archive.org ***


6. Geissen (Koeln collection). Incredible collection with facing plates of all the coins. In German, with the usual difficulties in reading German. Helped by the coin photos, this catalog is very well done. Obverse inscriptions are given in modern Greek -- not as helpful as Milne or BMC. As well, the reverse date placement is not as accurate as Milne-- but as you can look at the coin photo and make your own determination as to whether you have a coin variety. I wish I could read German better. For the specialist-- and expensive to purchase. All volumes may not be in print at this time.

There are some other collections/catalogues and if I have some time to kill I'll add them later.

Iwaniw

Offline iwaniw

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #5 on: August 30, 2007, 09:59:56 pm »
7.  Regio Museum di Torino. Monete Greche by A. Fabretti, F. Rossi and R, V. Lazone. 1883
The Alexandrian section is on pages 430-637. Interesting and fairly well done catalog in Italian with 3166 Alexandrian coins. Citations are to Feuardent. Some of the coins were previously cited by Mionnet, but this volume is superior. It does have some date reading errors but overall pretty good for its time. Very good for describing its 183 lead tokens. It has a very good selection of Nome coins.

Believe it or not the volume is in print and can be purchased from Forum-- but not cheap. Worth the  high price. Citations to this volume are only in Emmett, probably because nobody else owns a copy.

8. SNG Copenhagen part 41 (I believe): Alexandria-Cyrenaica by Erik Christiansen and Anne Kromann 1974. A collection of 1162 Alexandrian coins with most coins pictured on the reverse side.  A good overview of the Alexandrian series with a fairly large nome section. Seldom cited as a reference. Likely still available as a reprint.

9. Die Alexandrinischen Museum by Joseph Vogt. 1924. This is more a thesis on Alexandrian coins and a summary of the coin types known at that time (in the second part). Very useful information. Does not cover the nome coinage. Its main benefit now is that it cites unpublished coins in Berlin and Muenchen. A few errors in the second part (reference citations). Worth possessing in your collection. There is a 1976 reprint. May be out of print. Has 5 coin plates.

10.  Collections Giovanni di Demetrio. Egypte Ancienne. Deuxieme Partie by F. Feuardent. 1873
A very extensive collection teaming with errors, but still useful. Citations are to Mionnet. It has several plates of line drawings. It is good for the nome coinage ( that section is currently in print and everyone should own that part). A dated collection, now in Athens. Available for about $500, but not worth anything near that amount. BMC and Dattari learned a lot from this book. A new (corrected) edition with the additional coins is needed for it to be of any use today.

*** Digital file free at the Digital Library Numis ***
***Available as a print to order book. Reduced in size, but superior to photocopies. Worth purchasing and having in hand-- only $29.00. Get the University of Michigan reprint and make sure you purchase the second volume.***

I'll any some other citations later.

Iwaniw


Offline *Alex

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #6 on: August 31, 2007, 06:41:17 am »
There is also "Imperial Alexandrian Coins" by Stefan Kowronek.

It used to be available from FORVM but it seems it is no longer in their book catalogue.

Alex.


Offline iwaniw

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #7 on: August 31, 2007, 10:33:43 am »
I purchased two or three copies of that book from Europe several years ago. It is of very little benefit as it does not list a lot of coins. I don't believe there are any unpublished coins in that collection.

You should be able to locate a copy at ebay or try the following book search engines:

www.bookfinder.com
www.addall.com

I located my copies using a google search, but it now seems more available now. I might mention these small volumes at the end of my listings. There are still a lot of more important collections.

Iwaniw

Offline David Atherton

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #8 on: August 31, 2007, 08:33:31 pm »
In the intervening two years since I first posted this question my interest in Egyptian coinage has not waned. Thank you for the excellent suggestions!

Offline iwaniw

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #9 on: September 02, 2007, 12:53:37 am »
Just to continue on the references:

11. Catalogue of Greek Coins in the Hunterian Collection. Volume 3. by George MacDonald 1905

This is a very professional and well done catalogue of the Alexandrian coins collected by Hunter. It's an above average collection with many rarities for its size. Too bad it is hard to locate and very expensive. I believe there are a little over 1000 Alexandrian coins. Worth owning. Seldom cited as a reference.

*** available as a print to order and PDF online (along with vol 1 and 2)***

*** superseded by reference 68 (SNG format with pictures of the coins).***

12. Description de medailles antiques, grecques et romaines. volume 6 and suppl. volume 9. by T. E. Mionnet. Impressive in its time but now seldom used. Based primarily on the French collection along with citations from numismatists who couldn't read the Greek inscriptions properly. Teaming with partial-dated coins. Some citations are perfectly okay with many that are difficult to weed out.  Uses the Mionnet size charts. It's hard at times to distinguish between the obol and half-obol (called dichalkons in other catalogues). I'm sure there are other attribution problems, . Be aware of the Elagabalus/Caracalla errors which extend to the BMC catalogue (since corrected). Available at google books for free, although finding and downloading it are the major problems. Still of benefit today. Nome coinage is separate and is actually pretty good for its time.

*** PDF files of both volumes are online***

13. SNG France 4: Alexandrie I: Auguste - Trajan by Soheir Bakhoum 1998. Excellent plates of all the coins is a plus for this "catalog only" listings. Includes the Luynes IV (1936) and Delepierre collections, even though the Luyes collection is of little benefit. Long overdue for the next volume. Sometimes coin details are left out of the descriptions. Does not cite Mionnet as a reference-- suprising because most were cited by Mionnet from the French collection. It would be nice to confirm/reject the Mionnet citations. Dumped in price a while ago. Still a useful one-volume set. It has a lot of duplication due to many donations. Check out coin 1000: Domitia hemidrachm.

14. SNG. Italia (Milan): volume 13 part 2 Octavianus Augustus - Lucius Verus 1991
part 3: Commodus - Galerius 1992
Not a perfectly done catalogue, but at least one that was completed. Photos of all the coins. There may be some problems with the inscriptions on worn coins as the expected inscription is usually given in full and the actual inscription not transcribed. Usefull collection.

15. Aegypten zur Roemerzeit by Dietrich Klose and Bernard Overbeck (Muenchen)1989.
Not specifically a catalogue but an overview of the influence of Egypt through the Roman period which is illustrated by Greek Imperial and Roman issues in Alexandria. Shows additional coins from other areas which are influenced by Egypt. Some statues included. A very well done show catalog. Only source illustrating coins in the Muenchen collection. Well worth purchasing. Beware of the incorrectly attributed Tranquillina tetradrachm.

I'll add some others later.

Iwaniw

Offline iwaniw

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #10 on: September 04, 2007, 09:20:01 pm »
Additional references:

16. Die muenzen der Roemischen Kaiser in alexandrien. Historisches Museum Frankfurt am Main. by Gisela Forschner.  1987. A very well done catalog of 1400 coins, with all the coins illustrated on the same page. Pictures too dark, unfortunately. Very precise references. Cointains 47 Nome coins, a few lead, 3 false coins and 1 glass token. Contains many unpublished coins which are summarized on page 441. The same list is also on the internet. I German but easy to read.

17. Catalogue des monnaies romaines d'alexandrie (Egypte) Chambery Musee Savoisien by Bernard Remy 1994. Catalog of 213 coins with the majority from Claudius II on. Coin plates has the coins pictured too small. Lots of time wasted on indices. Of little if any value. In French.

18. Catalog des monnaies 1. Monnaies Grecques Alexandrie Egypte. Grenoble Bibliotheque Municipale. by Bernard Remy (1996). A catalog of the Ptolemaic (27 coins) and Alexandrian coins (105 coins) in Grenoble. A more interesting collection, though small with improved coin plates. It has 5 interesting false coins (Otho, Vitellius, Nerva, Hadrian and Pius). Worth purchasing. In French. Has the same type of indices.

19. Alexandrinischen muenzen im Bernischen Historisches Museum. in Revue Swisse de Numismatique. Band XLV 1996 by Belazs Kapposy. Interesting and important small collection of 416 coins, with only the better and rarer 84 coins pictured on the 7 excellent plates. Have a quick look at #8: Messalina drachm of year 8 -- nice fantasy piece not marked as a forgery. See coins 157 and 163. Has a few unpublished coins. There are a number of additions published separately. Unfortunately I do not have copies of those additions. In French. Does anyone have copies of the additions?

***PDF version available at Digital Library Numis***
There are still a few more collections to go.

Offline iwaniw

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #11 on: September 05, 2007, 10:05:51 pm »
Just a couple I'm listing today

20. Alexandrinische Muenzen in der Original und AbguBsammlung der Universitat Trier by Ingmar Koenig 1988  A small catalogue of 241 coins from the reigns of Valerian to Maximianus with a number illustrated at the back. The coins are pictured a bit larger than life size and are a bit dark. The collection itself is of little interest. Its main benefits are the detailed obverse inscriptions and obverse type listings that are similar to Milne's along with detailed reverse descriptions. Larger collection catalogues seldom provide this level of quality. Also has an interesting introduction with useful citations. Difficult to locate but worth finding.

21. Katalog der Alexandrinischen Muenzender der Sammlung Dr. Christian Friedrich August Schledehaus im Kulturgeschichtlichen Museum Osnabrueck. by Adriano Savio, Tommaso Lucchelli and Vincent Cubelli. Volume 3 Septimius Severus - Domitius Domitianus 1997. A bilingual catalogue in German and Italian. This is a very important and well researched catalogue with up-to-date information. Some problems with the coin sizes. The coin discussions are more interesting than the coins. One of the best Alexandrian catalogues published in years. Has an extensive bibliography. The remaining two volumes will cover the silver coinages and bronze issues prior to Septimius Severus in separate volumes as museum funds are available. The silver coinage has recently been published and I will discuss it separately next time. All the coins are illustrated. Some may be out of order. Has a number of unpublished coins.

***corrected title**

Some more later.

Iwaniw

Offline David Atherton

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #12 on: September 06, 2007, 04:33:34 am »
Thank you very much Iwaniw for posting the references.

In light of the continuing bibliography that is being posted here, is it possible for a moderator to pin this thread? I think it will be quite useful.

Offline iwaniw

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #13 on: September 08, 2007, 04:38:10 pm »
Just a few of the rarer ones.

22. Fiorelli, Guiseppe Catalogo del Museo Nazionale di Napoli. Collezione Santangelo. Monete Greche. Napoli 1866. This is extremely rare book to locate, along with Fiorelli's other book cited next. A large format book, similar to the SNG series. An early catalogued Alexandrian collection, so it is expected that a number of reverse types are not identified correctly, but usually there is enough detail to identify the reverse type. Some partial date problems as well.. The Alexandrian section in on pages 132-141 (coins 11697-12176). A fairly reliable catalog when the date it was written is taken into account. I  rely on a photocopy given to me by Erik Christiansen which has his hand-written notes. It has a few unpublished coins. No coin plates. In Italian.

23. Fiorelli, Guiseppe Catalogo del Museo Nazionale di Napoli. Medagliere I. Monete Greche. Napoli 1870.. The same comments apply as from the last citation. This is larger and therefore a more important Alexandrian collection. The coins number from 9509-10394. See #10077: an unpublished Macrinus drachm: Sarapis Head r., LB (Christiansen could not make out the B). It only has 9 nome coins. No coin plates. In Italian.
 
24. Haatvedt, Rolfe A. and Peterson, Enoch E. Coins from Karanis. (The University of Michigan Excavations. 1924-1935, edited by Elinor M. Husselman). Ann Arbor 1964. This is one of the more interesting catalogues as it is a collection of coin hoards from excavations in Karanis. A total of over 30,000 coins were located The coin hoards are itemized separately and then catalogued as a collection. Each listing could contain 100s of coins of that type, giving evidence of their rarity. Its best coverage is the coins of Diocletian to his 12th year (including many Galerius and Constantius I , but it does have some good coverage for some earlier rulers. Has several unpublished coins illustrated on its 9 coin plates.  It has 8 nome coins and a few lead token. Because listings cover more than one coin, sometimes date varieties are confusing. References given are not always correct. This is one to own if you collect the later emperors.  It also has some post-Alexandrian period coin hoards.  See coin1383: undated Isis standing l., ICIC (found in an Alexandrian coin hoard). Apparently still in print and reduced to $15 through the Kelsey museum website link. Good book for Forum to sell.
.
***Forum now sells this book***

25. Hübl, Albert Die Münzsammlung des Stiftes Schotten in Wien. Band II. Griechische Münzen. Wien und Leipzig 1920. A collection of 734 coins with citations to BMC. Nothing really that rare or important, but still a  fair overview of the series. This is one of the two Vienna Alexandrian collections-- the other more important Vienna museum collection is still unpublished. Hard to locate and probably not worth the effort to find. No coin pictures.

26. Müller, L. Fortegnelse over de antikke Mynter i Thorvaldsens. København 1850. A small unimportant collection of about 100 Alexandrian coins. Not a lot of coin detail and it usually does not give the reverse direction. No coin pictures. In Danish. Probably impossible to locate.

Don't just let me add additional citations-- add some too.

Iwaniw

Offline iwaniw

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #14 on: September 09, 2007, 08:19:10 pm »
27. Skowronek, Stefan On the Problems of the Alexandrian Mint. Warszawa 1967
This is not a catalog but a 5 part discussion concerning the representations of the Roman emperor on the Alexandrian coinage. Skowronek summarizes both the Alexandrian and Roman issues and discusses their meaning. Has an extensive bibliography along the same lines. Interesting. Worth locating.

28. Christiansen, Erik The Roman Coins of Alexandria. Aarhus University Press 1988. This is two volume set which quantifies the output at the Alexandrian mint. Although the mint output numbers may be questioned, its evaluation of hoard evidence is very useful to the collector. The reigns of Nero, Trajan and Septimius Severus were analyzed. Christiansen's coin listings in these areas are  the most exhaustive anywhere, however information concerning reverse type directions are not given. The numismatic information will likely be superseded by RPC (if they ever finish). Valuable for the extensive correction notes to the coins Christiansen examined— virtually all the published and unpublished collections. Has interesting appendices where all the published and unpublished collection numbers are given. especially important for the many die links during the Septimius Severus reign. Valuable addition to any collection.

29. Savio, Adriano and Lucchelli, Tomaso. Katalog der Alexandrinischen Münzen der Sammlung dr. Christian Friedrich August Schledehaus im Kulturgeschichtlichen Museum Osnabrück. 2001
This is the the first volume, following the issue of volume 3 earlier. (** title to # 21 since corrected). This volume contains the billon issues from Tiberius to Crispina, but unlike the 3rd volume, there is no commentary prior to each ruler. It is just a catalogue of the coins. Only 42 coins pictured on the 7 "regular paper" plates at the back. Has a shorter bibliography than volume 3. Truly a disappointment from that volume. Each ruler has its own separate numbering making citations to it more difficult. Why didn't they renumber at the end of editing? Looking forward to the last volume which will list the bronze issues of the same period. Check out the billon drachm of Claudius I:# 9-10.

Iwaniw

Offline iwaniw

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #15 on: September 11, 2007, 07:38:56 pm »
30.  Babelon, Jean Catalogue de la Collection de Luynes. Monnaies Grecques IV. Syrie, Égypte, Cyrénaïque, Maurétanie, Zeugitane, Numidie. Paris 1936.
A difficult to locate collection of very little importance. Coins from this collection are being catalogued as part of the SNG France volumes. Some coins are illustrated on the coin plates, which are contained in a pouch at the back of the book. Easy to lose the plates, which is what happened to my volume. In French.

*** pdf version now available at Digital Library Numis ****

31. China, Henri "Les Rares Monnaies 'Alexandrines' de l'empereur Macrin et de son fils Diaduménien." Revue Belge de Numismatique et de Sigillographie. 109 (1963), 5-10.
A small article on the rare coins of Macrinus and Diadumenian, listing a number of items unpublished at the time. The Diadumenian hemidrachm cited makes one wonder if it is not actually a tetradrachm (compare it to the Curtis tetradrachm). To the few additional items listed in Emmett add: Maxcrinus tetradrachm: Athena Stg. L., holds Nike? And Spear, shield LB = DS9803 and Macrinus drachm: Sarapis Head r., L (B) = Fiorelli Naples-10077.

32. Curtis, James W. Coinage of Roman Egypt - A Survey. The American Numismatic Society 1956
This is an .overview of the Alexandrian coinage, illustrated by specimens from Curtis' own collection. One of the few sources illustrating the bronze coins in Curtis' collection. Includes a few unpublished items. Unfortunately, two nome issues in this publication are not to be found in Curtis' bronze collection notes, including the extremely rare Emmett-797. The article is available at www.coinsofromanegypt.org

33. Rathbone, Dominic W. "The Dates of Recognition in Egypt of the Emperors from Caracalla to Diocletianus." Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 62 (1986), 101-129
An important article listing the dates the Roman emperors were recognized in Egypt from the dating of the papyri-- computed to the Arsinoite (I will leave it up to you to figure why). It would have been better to calculate it to Alexandria where the coins were minted. Some dating gaps will likely be resolved by future papyri data. It has some date corrections for the Gallienus to Aurelian periods. As with all books citing dates, this reference will eventually be superseded.

Iwaniw
.

Offline iwaniw

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #16 on: September 12, 2007, 11:18:51 pm »
34. Magain, Pierre Monnaies des nomes ou préfectures de l'Égypte. Walcourt (1982)
A very difficult to locate small paperback  which is basically a reprint of the Demetrio nome collection (see Feuardent above), along with additions from the BMC collection. Apparently the author couldn't afford purchasing Dattari. Has all the original Feuardent line drawings. In French,  because translating it would have required a lot more effort. Hardly worth locating.

35. Markl, Andreas "Das Provinzialcourant unter Kaiser Claudius II. C. Alexandriner." Numismatische Zeitschrift 32.(1901), 51-72. ***Tafel II-III***
This article only covers  the issues of Claudius II. It documents a number of extremely rare bronze issues-- a few are in Köln.  Includes some year 4 and 5 issues, which of course are not genuine. Citations list Markl collection numbers.

36. West, Louis C. and Johnson, Allan Chester : Currency in Roman and Byzantine Egypt. Princeton and London 1944— since reprinted, but expensive.
If you thought four bronze drachms equaled a billon tetradrachm, then you would be surprised after reading this book. Egypt had a complicated exchange rate between bronze, silver/billon and gold. In general, to purchase a billon tetradrachm it required 28 to 29 bronze obols — the extra 4 to 5 obols were surcharges. Discusses some of the complicated issues of what bronze denominations were struck and comes up with a silver drachm equaling 7.25 bronze obols. Don't rely on this book to give the correct bronze denominations, however. Covers the Byzantine period also. There is lots of interesting reading in this book.

37. Maresch, Klaus Bronze und Silber. Papyrologische Beiträge zur Geschichte der Währung im ptolemäischen und römischen Ägypten bis zum 2. Jahrhundert n. Chr. Germany 1996
In general, the topics covered are very similar to the last book, but the bronze and silver standards turn out to be  more complicated than what one would have thought. I do not regret purchasing this book, but I doubt I will ever be able to use the information it contains. Has some interesting sections.  Probably a very important book. For PhD specialists.

Iwaniw

Offline iwaniw

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #17 on: September 16, 2007, 10:45:44 am »
38.  Burnett, Andrew and Amandry, Michel and Ripollès, Pere Paul Roman Provincial Coinage. Volume 1. From the death of Caesar to the death of Vitellius (44 B.C. - A.D. 69). Part 1: Introduction and catalogue. Part II: Indices and Plates. London and Paris. 1992

First volume in a multi-volume set covering the Roman Provincial Coinage. Alexandrian coins are only a small part of this new influential work. Very expensive to purchase. It attempts to catalogue and illustrate all the known Alexandrian coins. Doesn't resolve the bronze issue denominations and elects to give only the weighs and diameters for each issue. Looks at the issues more as numismatists than historians. Some coins were missed in the original catalogue and since added (but not all) to the supplement volume as well as the second supplement volume, which is on the web. Questions the value marks on Livia's coins, with good reason. Some of the Nero bronze issues are interesting (the year 11 drachms have since been changed to year 14). Published before the Dattari rubbings book, the supplements include a discussion of the new types in Dattari, although I am not sure if all the corrections to Dattari can be believed by looking at the rubbings. The Alexandrian section is important as it includes a number of unpublished collections, including the ANS. Good for the summaries of known specimens and mean weights and diameters of the coins. Some dealers cite RPC as a reference, but it is probably used more by non-Alexandrian specialists.

39.  Burnett, Andrew and Amandry, Michel and Carradice, Ian Roman Provincial Coinage. Volume 2. From Vespasian to Domitian (A.D. 69 - 96). Part 1: Introduction and catalogue. Part II: Indices and Plates. London and Paris. 1999
The same general comments can be said for this volume also. Perhaps not as precise in details as Milne. There is a tendency to use composite information from two or more specimens to complete the inscriptions and details— probably not that bad but one may have to be careful of dating based on two partial-dated coins. Still expensive and likely never going down in price. Add the following unpublished diobols of Domitian:Alexandria Bust r. (Year 8 = Gilles Blaçon #31-1169 and Sarapis Bust r. (Year 9 = Curtis bronze collection) as well as a Domitia diobol: Agathodaemon on horse r. (Year 11 = Curtis bronze collection).  There is also some discussion of the bronze dichalkons/hemi-obols, expressing doubt in their attribution.


40.  Christiansen, Erik "On Denari and other Coin-Terms in the Papyri", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 54 (1984), pp. 271-299
If you ever wondered if Roman silver and gold coins ever circulated in Egypt during the Alexandrian period, then this is the article you need to see. Resolves this question once and for all = NO.

41.  Kiss, Zsolt Études sur le portrait impériale romain en Égypte. Varsorie 1984
This is not a numismatic book but is included here to show where numismatics could have helped out this study. Has 86 pages of pictures of statues along with an extensive bibliography. The statue of Domitia? looks a lot like her hemidrachm portrait. It's interesting to see how far the use of hieroglyphics lasted into the Roman period.

Iwaniw

Offline iwaniw

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #18 on: September 17, 2007, 08:22:33 pm »
42.  Grose, W. Fitzwilliam Museum. Catalogue of the McClean Collection of Greek Coins III, Cambridge 1929.

Contains only a few Alexandrian coins. Of very little use to the collector.

43. Jungfleisch, Marcel "Note sur les monnaies des nomes égyptiens." Revue Numismatique. 5. ser. 17.1955, pp. 259-278.


This is an article in which Jungfleisch discusses the rarity of the nome coinage and provides a rarity table. Interesting for the nome collector.  Jungfleisch assembled  a large Alexandrian collection which was auctioned by Sotheby  (contained a drachm of Nero and one of Maximinus I)
 

44. Metcalf, William "New and Noteworthy from Roman Alexandria: Pescennius Niger - Diadumenian." From: Greek Numismatics and Archaeology.Essays in Honor of Margaret Thompson. pp.173-182, pls. 19-20. Wetteren, 1979.

A very important listing of extremely rare coins in the ANS. Collectors should look closely at the year 11 Athena standing l. "Caracalla" coin. Includes coins of Pescennius Niger and Diadumenian as well as a number of others from the Severan period.

45. Milne, Joseph Grafton "The Shops of the Roman Mint of Alexandria." The Journal of Roman Studies, 8.1918, pp. 154-178. London.

An attempt to determine the number of shops or officinas  during the Alexandrian period. Not all of Milne's conclusions have been accepted by others. A good overview of the inscriptions and obverse types with discussions of other coin marks: stars, crescents, lituus, officina marks, etc  A good addition to Milne's Alexandrian Coins introduction.
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46. Rodríguez Casanova, Isabel "La moneda greco-imperial de Alejandría en el Museo Arqueológico Nacional", Numisma 240, Julio - Diciembre 1997, Págs. 45-83

This is a good discussion of Alexandrian coins to accompany an overview of the Alexandrian collection in the Museo Arqueológico Nacional, in Madrid.  The author was planning to catalog the 2 150 coins but only this article was written. It is illustrated with 48 coins from the collection. Look at coin #5, a didrachm of Claudius I and #47, a tetradrachm of Maximianus with the emperor and herakles standing. In Spanish.

47. Rougé, Jacques de Géographie ancienne de La Basse-Égypte. Paris 1891

This is not a coin book, but it definitely was written to provide information on the northern delta nomes for use by numismatists. There is a reprint volume available.  Like most of the discussions on the nome coinage, this is also a very dated work. The frontis map is also available at www.coinsofromanegypt.org    One would think that the locations of the nomes would be well defined, but they are not.

48. von Sallet, Alfred Die Daten der Alexandrinischer Kaisermünzen. Berlin 1870.

This is an extremely rare book to locate. Its purpose is to document all the regnal dates in which Alexandrian coins were issued. It cites a few extremely rare coins to support some of the dates. It is dated but still has some useful information.

Iwaniw


Offline iwaniw

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #19 on: September 24, 2007, 10:43:53 pm »
49.  Langlois, Victor Numismatique de Nomes d'Égypte sous l'administration romaine. Paris 1852

A very rare book to locate. A catalog of Nome coins, compiled from the collections of the times. Perhaps important for collectors of the Nome coinage, but of limited use today. The 4 plates of line drawings are reprinted in Emmett.

*** Digital file free at the Digital Library Numis ***
*** Print to order book available for about $16- slightly reduced in size from original. There is some images/letters that bled through from the previous/next page. Years ago, I originally photocopied the actual University of Toronto book which is the source of the print to order book.***

50. Rostovtsew, Michel and Prou, Maurice Catalogue des Plombs de l'Antiquité, du Moyen Age et du Temps modernes conservés au Département des Médailles de la Bibliothèque Nationale. Paris 1900.

Only about 100 to 200 Alexandrian lead tokens are described, making it hardly worth purchasing for that series alone. It covers a wide range of lead coin issues from Greek, Roman and Byzantine issues. If you collect lead issues in general, then this is an important reference. As with all lead issues, the exact coin types are often difficult to determine, due to their poor condition.

51. von Sallet, Alfred "Alexandrinische Kaisermünzen des Kgl. Münzcabinets in Berlin." Festschrift Berlin. pp. 127-130.

A very small article illustrating a number of extremely rare Alexandrian coins in Berlin. Extremely difficult to locate. I rely on a photocopy from a microfilm. One of the very few sources for coins in Berlin. It has a couple Geta issues, (I believe), with the emperor on horseback. It's been a while since I looked at the article.

52.  Wallace, Sherman LeRoy Taxation in Egypt From Augustus to Diocletian. New York 1969 (Reprint of 1938 edition).

An early work on the complicated issues relating to taxes in Egypt. Some of the information is dated, but it must be a starting point for taxation. Some taxes were collected in money, but the vast majority were collected in kind.

53. Mathiesen, H. E. Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. Århus University, Denmark. Munskgaard - Copenhagen, 1986.

An expensive catalog to purchase with very few Alexandrian coins. There is a reason it is buried deep in my book chest as it is of little importance. Save your money.

54.  American Numismatic Society.

This is not a book, but it is a database of coins in the ANS collection. A database search is located online, with a few coins pictured. If you want any of the images, then you will have to purchase them, even the ones pictured-- a shame. The Alexandrian collection is over 10,000 coins. A huge important collection was purchased in 1944, and later in 1973. It's as important as the Ashmolean collection. The database does have errors. You have to watch the bronze denominations in general.

55. Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, Ontario, Canada).

Like the ANS collection it is also unpublished, but there is a database (not online) in which all the coins are catalogued and attributed to Milne. The collection contains the largest  Alexandrian collection, but as the coin hoards were previously picked over by Dattari and Milne, it has only a few unpublished coins. A list of the unlisted (in Milne) coins can be obtained from ROM. It still is useful for research, however. I visited the museum a few times, but never thought to see the coin collection.


Iwaniw

Offline iwaniw

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #20 on: October 09, 2007, 06:34:23 pm »
56.  Dattari, Giovanni "Appunti di Numismatica Alessandrina." Revista Italiana di Numismatica e Scienze Affini.
xiii (1900) 267-285, 375-393.
xiv (1901) 157-183, 263-275, 361-382.
xv (1902) 19-39, 291-317, 407-438.
xvi (1903) 11-35, 263-327.
xvii (1904) 465-475

These articles contain a wide range of information on Alexandrian coins, based mainly on Dattari's incredible collection. Unfortunately, while there is useful information, many of Dattari's ideas were incorrect. Some interesting coins from his collection are pictured.
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*** Digital file free at the Digital Library Numis ***
***There is a missing 1903 part above which has to obtained from the original journal-- available on-line.***

57.  Eckhel, Joseph H. Doctrina numorum veterum conscripta. Pars I, vol. IV. Vindobona 1794

The Alexandrian section is on pages 26-115. An early work, written in Latin, which was very important in its day, but seldom used today by anyone. It is not a catalog, but more of an overview of the reverse types and obverse and reverse inscriptions found on the coins. The nome section yields more useful information. Vogt provides more up to date material in all areas, but lacks discussion of the nome coinage.. Forum has a link to the free e-version.


58.  Jessop, Martin and Trell, Bluma L. Coins and Their Cities. Architecture on the Ancient Coins of Greece, Rome and Palestine, London 1977.

This is beautiful book covering the architectural structures found on ancient coins. The Alexandrian section has only three short chapters on the pharos, the nilometer and the Serapeum.

***I just added my Serapeum coin ***

59.  Maresch, Klaus Nomisma und Nomismatia. Beiträge zur Geldgeschichte Ägyptens im 6. Jahrhundert n. Chr. Germany 1993

A companion book to his Bronze und Silber, discussing many of the same aspects, but focused on the period when Egypt struck the regular roman issues with Latin inscriptions.


Iwaniw


Offline iwaniw

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #21 on: November 16, 2007, 11:25:34 pm »
I just ran across these SNG British collections on the internet, which can be found on Forum-- in the award section for numismatic excellence. Since they are e-versions, some of the errors could just be typing errors. I don't have the full titles. It sure saved me hundreds of dollars in book expenses. The non-Alexandrian sections are likely of greater importance.

60.  SNG British- I- part 2: Newnham Davis Collection

Only 11 coins, but who can fault a collection that has an Antinoos (catalogued as Hadrian!), Gordian I, Zenobia and a rare reverse coin of Volusian.


61.  SNG British- VI- part 2: Lewis collection

A collection of 80 coins, many coins with the reverses of Sarapis and Isis. Has the rare Claudius I billon drachm (Sarapis bust r., of course). There is also a rare year 9 (L theta) issue of Gallienus. Overall fairly nice coins, but none are unpublished.

62.  SNG British- VII: Manchester University Museum

It has only 3 coins of no importance.


63.  SNG British- XIII: Newcastle Antiquaries Society.

The largest Alexandrian collection , consisting of only 115 coins. There are a few interesting issues of Hadrian, one Zenobia (who doesn't have one?), but most are what one would expect in a regular collection. There are a few errors in the inscriptions and a definite problem separating the Caesar from the Augustus issues. Coin 937 is Philip II not I, and 940 (Gallienus with Elpis l.) is definitely not from year 3 (more likely a L theta issue, but possibly of year 10).


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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #22 on: November 27, 2007, 08:27:29 pm »
64.  El-Nassery, S. A. A. and Wagner, Guy. A New Hoard from Karanis (IIIrd c. A.D.)  Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale. 75 (1975), pp. 183-202 + 9 plates.

This article attempts to catalogue an Alexandrian hoard of 1500 tetradrachms found in Karanis, Egypt.. The coins are from the reign of Claudius II (270 A.D.) up to 295 A.D. Only some of the high-grade common issues are pictured.

It is amazing that this article was ever published as it has so many errors that make it completely useless for any research. The catalogue  needs to be completely redone to be of any benefit. The article can be downloaded from the net, but why one would want to do so, I do not know.

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Offline Britannicus

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #23 on: February 13, 2008, 06:03:11 pm »
9. Die Alexandrinischen Museum by Joseph Vogt. 1924. This is more a thesis on Alexandrian coins and a summary of the coin types known at that time (in the second part). Very useful information. Does not cover the nome coinage. Its main benefit now is that it cites unpublished coins in Berlin and Muenchen. A few errors in the second part (reference citations). Worth possessing in your collection. There is a 1976 reprint. May be out of print. Has 5 coin plates.

According to the publisher's homepage this book is "Out of print. New ed. in preparation!"
A few years ago I went to Olms to collect another item. While I was at their offices I enquired about the Vogt volume. "Oh, that's been out of print for years", they said. I tried a tactic that has worked several times in different countries and with different publishers. "Are you sure that you don't have even a single copy left?", I asked. The friendly gentleman said that he'd look in the storeroom, and, lo and behold, he found (and sold me) the last, rather dusty, copy of Vogt, which had slipped down behind the bookshelf years before.
(There's a moral in there somewhere.)

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Re: Books on Roman Egyptian Coins?
« Reply #24 on: February 27, 2008, 12:46:38 am »
I thought I had a pretty good library until I saw this thread.   Nice work putting it together.  If only we had threads like this (or even half this good) for other regions and specialties.
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