Svoronos
Svoronos, J. Ta Nomismata tou Kratous ton Ptolemaion. (Athens, 1904-08).
In Greek.
PDF available online:
Svoronos Volumes 1 & 2: https://archive.org/details/tanomismatatoukrv1v2sbor
Svoronos Volumes 3 & 4 (with plates): https://archive.org/details/tanomismatatoukrv3v4sbor
(From the 'University of Toronto - Robarts Library, both over 40Mb in size)
English translation and plates available online:
HTML: http://www.coin.com/images/dr/svoronos_book2.html
Text: http://www.coin.com/images/dr/svoronos_text.html
Plates: http://www.coin.com/images/dr/svoronos_plate.html
PDF: http://books.monetonos.ru/numi3maticheskai%20literatura/monety%20antika%20i%20srednevekov,a/TA%20NOMISMATA%20TOU%20KRATOUS%20TON%20PTOLEMAION.pdf
Note that in the pdf on monetonos, as well as the online version on coin.com, the plate 62a is missing. Plate 62b is shown twice as 63a, followed by the correct 63a and 63b.
Also see:
Svoronos HPM
Svoronos Crete
Svoronos Delphi
Svoronos Athens
Svoronos Nomismata
INTRODUCTION TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION
by Catharine C. Lorber
J.N. Svoronos' classic work on Ptolemaic coinage, Ta Nomismata tou Kratous ton Ptolemaion
(Athens, 1904), has long been inaccessible to the majority of
numismatists. It is a rare title and commands a daunting price whenever
it comes up for auction. Furthermore, it is the only major numismatic
reference that has never been made available in reprint despite years of
crying need. The obstacle is its language, modern Greek, in a literary
version that is now slightly archaic even in Greece itself.
In summer of 1991 I began my study of Ptolemaic coinage by making a "fast and dirty" translation of the catalogue sections of Svoronos. This
document was intended solely for my private use, as the first step in a
process of extensive updating and revision. I dispensed with careful
proofreading as unnecessary at this first-draft stage. Other shortcuts
included truncating the lists of specimens that followed each catalogue
description, substituting Roman letters for the Greek alphabetic
numerals that identified those specimens, and condensing or even
dropping discursive notes in the catalogue. As I produced second and
third drafts incorporating more modern scholarship, the initial
translation was set aside to gather dust.
When Ed Waddell told me of his plan to post the Svoronos plates on his
web site as a public service, I thought that my old translation might be
a fitting accompaniment. Ed and his staff have invested many hours
correcting typos and other mistakes that caught my eye in a cursory
proofing. They have also inserted dozens of monograms that I neglected
to draw into the first draft. If the document proves useful to
numismatists, Ed and his staff deserve much credit for these
improvements as well as for their technical work in publishing it
electronically - monograms, Greek inscriptions, and all.
Though it approaches its centenary, Svoronos remains the preferred
reference for Ptolemaic coinage. The catalogue offers remarkably
comprehensive coverage. The new varieties that I have been able to add
amount to no more than 10-15% of the total, and most of these are minor
variants or missing denominations from a well-documented series. (The
most notable new discovery, in no way prefigured by Svoronos, is the
Yehud series of silver fractions with commemorative portraits of Ptolemy
I and his wife Berenice, struck at Jerusalem in the early reign of
Ptolemy II.) Indeed, Svoronos cast his nets so wide that he caught up
some coinages that were Ptolemaic in sentiment, but issued by
non-Ptolemaic authorities. Still other entries do not belong at all in a
catalogue devoted to the Ptolemies.
Of greater concern, Svoronos cannot always be relied upon for the
accuracy of his classifications. Mint attributions are frequently wrong,
reign attributions sometimes so; and bronzes may be wrongly associated
with one another. Svoronos imagined dating systems in the early
Ptolemaic coinage of Alexandria where they did not in fact exist.
Appended is a bibliography listing the principal works where these
errors are corrected. A quick perusal of the annotations should alert
the user when to be skeptical.
There is evidence of editorial carelessness throughout Svoronos. This is
of scant importance in the details of the corpus, but becomes a
considerable inconvenience with respect to the plates, which do not
necessarily follow the order of the catalogue. A concordance from the
plates to the text is included here to facilitate information retrieval.
The preceding list of caveats is demanded by conscience, but should not
be understood as denigrating Svoronos. His was a monumental achievement
that stands to this day, merely broidered round the edges by subsequent
scholarship. I hope that opening it to a broader public will stimulate
interest in Ptolemaic coinage and encourage yet deeper study of the
series.
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