Classical Numismatics Discussion
  Welcome Guest. Please login or register. 10% Off Store-Wide Sale Until 2 April!!! Explore Our Website And Find Joy In The History, Numismatics, Art, Mythology, And Geography Of Coins!!! Expert Authentication - Accurate Descriptions - Reasonable Prices - Coins From Under $10 To Museum Quality Rarities Welcome Guest. Please login or register. 10% Off Store-Wide Sale Until 2 April!!! Explore Our Website And Find Joy In The History, Numismatics, Art, Mythology, And Geography Of Coins!!! Support Our Efforts To Serve The Classical Numismatics Community - Shop At Forum Ancient Coins

New & Reduced


Author Topic: What are some great Greek Coin Books?  (Read 1266 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Mark R1

  • Consul
  • ***
  • Posts: 142
    • My Gallery
What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« on: February 25, 2022, 08:51:42 am »
Hello Folks!

I have very few books on Greek Coins and would love to add some to my shelves. What are some good ones both in print and out of print that I should look for?


Offline cicerokid

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1051
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2022, 09:58:01 am »
What languages do you read?
Timeo Danaos afferentem coronas

Offline Mark R1

  • Consul
  • ***
  • Posts: 142
    • My Gallery
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2022, 11:35:40 am »
English only I'm afraid. I know some German too but it's a strugle.

Offline Pekka K

  • Tribunus Plebis Perpetuus
  • Procurator Monetae
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 7335
  • ...one coin at a time...
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2022, 12:16:45 pm »

Offline Mark R1

  • Consul
  • ***
  • Posts: 142
    • My Gallery
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #4 on: February 25, 2022, 01:55:39 pm »
Thank you! I appreciate it.

Offline djmacdo

  • Tribunus Plebis 2017
  • Procurator Monetae
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 4483
  • I love this forum!
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #5 on: February 25, 2022, 05:57:34 pm »
It is only, but I believe the most important book you could own is Barclay Head, Historia Numorum (1911).  It lists each city that issued coins and provides details about each.

Offline Ron C2

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1055
  • Qvod perierat adhvc exstat nvmmorvm
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #6 on: February 25, 2022, 09:03:20 pm »
Check out CNG's Handbook of Greek Coins series.
My Ancient Coin Gallery: Click here

R. Cormier, Ottawa

Offline PMah

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 598
  • Qui risus classe devicta multas ipsi lacrimas...
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #7 on: February 25, 2022, 09:24:21 pm »
What's your main goal for your next book acquisitions? 
There are a lot of very specialized works, but if you are more general:
The 2 volume David Sear, Greek Coins and their Values, set is a decent overview for non-specialists and is readily available.   Not much discussion of the big picture.
G.K.. Jenkins, Ancient Greek Coins, has great illustrations and perceptive discussion, also readily available.
Forum's resources page has the "Library" of pdfs, most of which are technically a bit dated but are a decent orientation and, helpfully, free.  (Buying an outdated or non-interest specialist work is costly.)
Be Well, Stay Healthy, Support your Local Numismatic Club

Paul 

My Gallery: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album

Offline Virgil H

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1404
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #8 on: February 26, 2022, 01:41:31 am »
By far my favorite Greek coin books I have in hard copy are the two volumes I have in Hoover's Handbook of Greek Coins series. The downside are multiple volumes, but each one is incredible, including some history of each city. I have volume 4 and 7 now and next one will be the one with Macedon and its neighbors. These books make the Sear two volume books obsolete, but I haven't see his series that has more volumes.

Virgil

Offline Meepzorp

  • IMPERATOR
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 5127
    • Meepzorp's Ancient Coins
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #9 on: February 26, 2022, 03:26:22 am »
Hi MR1,

Depending on what your specific interests are, SNG ANS and SNG Copenhagen are great reference books. I love them because they are excellent for Greek Italy coins, which are my favorite coins. They are a little outdated, and SNG ANS doesn't provide years of issue. They are also multiple volume sets, and they can be quite expensive, especially considering that some volumes are out of print, and they must be purchased in the secondary market (used) at an elevated price.

The BMC series is very comprehensive. But it is very old and outdated. It is also lacking in photos. Many coins have text descriptions only. It is also a multiple volume set, but the volumes can be acquired quite cheaply.

The Lindgren series is good for Greek and Roman Provincial coins. It is a 3 volume set.

Meepzorp

Offline Brennos

  • Consul
  • ***
  • Posts: 184
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #10 on: February 26, 2022, 04:05:09 am »
I agree with the Handbook of Greek Coins series.
The most recent scientific generalist handbook covering all periods is The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Coinage.
For me, Kraay's Archaic and classical greek coins is an absolute must read.

There are many many many other interesting books.

This is part of my bookshelf devoted to greek coins





Offline cicerokid

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1051
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #11 on: February 26, 2022, 06:07:44 am »
Oh dear  in French there is a great book by deCallatay!  'HISTOIRE DES GUERRES MITHRIDATIQUES VUE PAR LES MONNAIES, 1997m, coins of the times of the Mithradatic wars. Some talk of NewStyles I hesitate to mention, but don;t let that spoil your education.
Timeo Danaos afferentem coronas

Offline Anaximander

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 415
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #12 on: February 26, 2022, 02:21:00 pm »
The most useful introductory work in my library is Wayne Sayles Ancient Coin Collecting series, specifically volumes I (Ancient Coins) and II (Greek).  I also recommend two reference books: John Melville Jones' A Dictionary of Ancient Greek Coins, and Michael Grant's A Guide to the Ancient World, A Dictionary of Classical Place Names

To oversimplify, a numismatic library can include handbooks (systematically showing coin varieties, notably Oliver Hoover's Handbook of Greek Coinage series), corpus (showing a collection, notably the many Sylloge Nummorum Graecorums series), catalogs (sales in numismatic auctions and fixed price lists), generalist/introductory works, and specialist works (including scholarly journals).   

Nice shelfie, Brennos!   

Offline Mark R1

  • Consul
  • ***
  • Posts: 142
    • My Gallery
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #13 on: February 26, 2022, 03:37:58 pm »
Thanks for the excellent suggestions. I’ll add some of these and try to slowly build a good collection of books. There are a few of these that are easily available so I’ll start with them.

Offline cicerokid

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1051
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #14 on: February 27, 2022, 05:01:00 am »
Books like Thompson are on line  New Style Coinage of Athens via link on wildwinds.com -dates are wrong some slight sequencing errors but actually very good. Lots of plates.

Bauslaugh, Coins in the name and types of Aesillias Quaestor
Svoronos, Tresors of Athenes..online somewhere

Get rich...online. There are lots of others rather than me who are download kings or queens.
Timeo Danaos afferentem coronas

Offline Virgil H

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1404
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #15 on: February 27, 2022, 02:23:08 pm »
To get very specific, there are books and catalogs available online. For example, I have been working through a lot of Thessaly coins. My main sources are Hoover HCG Volume 4 that I have in hand, but there are three indispensable resources online:

-BCD Thessaly I and II auction catalogs, I is Nomos, II is Triton: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=BCD%20Thessaly and https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=BCD%20Thessaly%20II
-Rogers 1932 book/article on Thessaly coins: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Rogers%20Thessaly

The combination of all these resources has made identifying these coins the easiest and most enjoyable ID experience I have had. The illustrations and descriptions in the auction catalogs are top notch.

Virgil

Offline PtolemAE

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1941
  • PtolemyBronze.com
    • The PtolemAE Project - Ptolemaic Bronzes
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #16 on: February 28, 2022, 09:29:40 pm »
It is only, but I believe the most important book you could own is Barclay Head, Historia Numorum (1911).  It lists each city that issued coins and provides details about each.

BV Head's book is an absolute gold mine, and it has plenty of photos and type descriptions, size references, and more. It's huge and comprehensive with few exceptions. A great first book on Greek coins to study cover to cover. My most treasured reference.

PtolemAE

Offline Joe Sermarini

  • Owner, President
  • FORVM STAFF
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 12102
  • All Coins Guaranteed for Eternity.
    • FORVM ANCIENT COINS
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #17 on: March 03, 2022, 01:57:59 pm »
Historia Nummorum is available in a Wiki format on NumisWiki. The Wiki format means that it is not the original 1911 version. It can be and has been modified by our members. The biggest changes I have made is adding more current references to each section. I only wish our members would contribute a bit more, adding updates, additions, and corrections.

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/NumisWiki/view.asp?key=Historia%20Numorum

Joseph Sermarini
Owner, President
FORVM ANCIENT COINS

Offline esnible

  • Procurator Monetae
  • Caesar
  • *****
  • Posts: 926
    • gorgon coins
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #18 on: March 03, 2022, 06:53:50 pm »
What kind of book are you looking for?

If you are looking for a reference book to look up specific IDs of coins, CNG's _Handbook of Greek Coins_ series is probably a good choice.  I don’t use those books because I prefer to look up common coins online and need specialized books for rare coins.

If you want something cool to impress people you can’t go wrong with Folio-sized SNGs like SNG Copenhagen or SNG von Aulock.  Most people have never seen folio-sized books and just pulling them off your shelf and casually flipping through them can be a treat.

I used to recommend Dennis Kroh’s _Ancient Coin Reference Reviews_.  20 years ago it was a great way to learn what books cover the coins you are interested in.  Sadly it is now 30 years out-of-date and copies are on offer on Amazon for $700!

If you want to become a top expert the books the ANS recommends to graduate students wishing to learn numismatics are given at http://numismatics.org/seminar/readings/ .  There is a PDF list of the classic works on Greek coins.

I like books that can actually be read.  I read _History Numorum cover-to-cover, but that isn’t the place to start.  I recommend Frank Holt’s _Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions_.  It has a hokey, Hardy Boys-style title, but you’ll learn a lot about coins and the Bactrians.

Offline Ron C2

  • Procurator Caesaris
  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 1055
  • Qvod perierat adhvc exstat nvmmorvm
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #19 on: March 03, 2022, 09:33:11 pm »
I would suggest there is more the the Handbook of Greek Coins than just reference numbers.  It likely has the most thorough set of plates of any available reference and explains what is known about the minting system of each referenced city-state or kingdom.  It also gives a brief history of the rulers that issued the coins and corrects any errors in prior references that have come to light up to when HGC was published in 2012. 

I find the reference invaluable, personally.
My Ancient Coin Gallery: Click here

R. Cormier, Ottawa

Offline Steve Moulding

  • Consul
  • ***
  • Posts: 185
    • Auction & Provenance Databases
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #20 on: March 04, 2022, 12:05:53 am »
:
It can be and has been modified by our members. The biggest changes I have made is adding more current references to each section. I only wish our members would contribute a bit more, adding updates, additions, and corrections.
:

Not much, but I've just added a link to Ulla Westermark's Akragas pdf at Uppsala.
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/NumisWiki/view.asp?key=sicily
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/NumisWiki/view.asp?key=Westermark%20Akragas
Steve Moulding
New York

Offline n.igma

  • Caesar
  • ****
  • Posts: 890
  • Life is bigger than a Tweet.
Re: What are some great Greek Coin Books?
« Reply #21 on: March 05, 2022, 01:54:41 am »
The Guides to the Coinage of the Ancient World by the ANS are most enlightening ...

http://numismatics.org/store/category/guides-to-the-coinage-of-the-ancient-world/
All historical inquiry is contingent and provisional, and our own prejudices will in due course come under scrutiny by our successors.

 

All coins are guaranteed for eternity