Best Reference Books. - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 1,543
MetDet71 Pillar of the Community United Kingdom 1569 Posts	Posted 04/07/2013 11:23 am Hi everyone, I am armed with sears volume I, II, III & IV, and great as they may be I was wondering if there are good reference books out there that deal more with the type of coinage and descriptions rather than the price? The trouble I am having is not so much the i.d. of who is on the coinage now, but rather what type of denomination they are. You will never soar like an eagle if you hang around with turkeys..... Report this Post to the Staff

jcmworld Pillar of the Community United States 567 Posts	Posted 04/07/2013 11:32 am The Roman Coins in the British Museum, some volumes are available free on google books. "The Roman Imerial Coinage" (RIC) - will set you back about $1400+ for a full set of all volumes. I found a set on sale for $950 last year and pounced. For silver the standard is "Roman Silver Coins" (RSC). Sear's RCV is a decent set though for most purposes. Report this Post to the Staff
FVRIVS RVFVS Pillar of the Community United States 3444 Posts	Posted 04/07/2013 1:21 pm The prices listed by David Sear are not the reason people usually buy the books. They do not always reflect real market prices as these can vary considerably by location. It seems like Carausius and Allectus command some premium prices in N America over prices in the UK. But they usually give good relative values ie one variety being double or some fraction over another. While I do wish Sear provided more information such as weights and diameters, for fast easy reference I think they are still the best. Once you are more comfortable identifying the denominations by eye you will probably 'see the light' Report this Post to the Staff
echizento Moderator United States 23731 Posts	Posted 04/07/2013 1:35 pm Sears books are excellent, RIC is expensive and needs to be updated. I like the ERIC books. ERIC I is a free download from dirtyoldbooks.com. ERIC II is a hugh volume the covers Roman Imperial and Byzantine coinage and well worth the $150. AORTA is a nice little field guide and is RIC II lacking RIC numbers and the Byzantine section. Ras is working on ERIC III now and from a preview of a section is going to be even better than the last. Report this Post to the Staff
Ben Pillar of the Community United Kingdom 4208 Posts	Posted 04/07/2013 2:41 pm Wildwinds is useful - although not a book. It usually lists denominations where known. If you ID in a book you can check it out on wildwinds. That, or learn how to differentiate the denominations. Report this Post to the Staff
jcmworld Pillar of the Community United States 567 Posts	Posted 04/08/2013 12:40 pm ERIC is based on Cohen and cross references to RIC. It is in a more user friendly format than the RIC, definitely, and makes some additions. I am still with RIC though on balance because of the additonal information presented in the beginning of the volumes on metrology, monetary systems and the placing of the coinages within a historical context. The BMC Roman is also good about this. It is a little more user friendly than the RIC and still presents the coinages within their historical context. Report this Post to the Staff
MetDet71 Pillar of the Community United Kingdom 1569 Posts	Posted 04/08/2013 2:29 pm Thanks all. Think I will be looking at getting the RIC if I can find it at a reasonable price. Had a look but am only finding single volumes at silly prices. You will never soar like an eagle if you hang around with turkeys..... Report this Post to the Staff
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