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 Replies: 10 / Views: 1,509 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
So it seems that I really should invest in some better Roman coin price guides. I was wondering if I should get the Sear books or Meter's Roman Imperial Coins. Any Suggestions?
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
I believe the latest edition of Sears is from 1988, so any prices listed will be way off. Van Meters book just lists rarity codes and no prices. ERIC II is another book, but no prices given. Your best bet is to see what coins are selling for on ebay, along with VCoins, Heritage auction etc.... |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3499 Posts |
echizento- Thanks for the input! So how comprehensive is Van Meter's book? Would you recommend it?
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
I think it's a good book and the first I bought when I started collecting. Lots of info, but more for the beginning collector. I still use it from time to time.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
I like my '88 Sears book--it's a good overview for a beginner like me. I got it for $25 on Amazon. To get a sense of prices, I always refer to recent auction and dealer prices. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
I actually already own the Ancient Coin Collecting series by Sales. Is there much to extract from Van Meter's book that is not in Sales' volumes?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
I have the 1988 Sear book plus the updated three volume series. I don't like the way the updated version is laid out, but the prices are more current. I generally refer to my older version first before looking at the series. Oh, and the series id quite expensive I think. I was able to get each book at auction for around $70 each a couple of years ago.
I would say for prices, echizento and DVC are correct about getting a gauge for the market values by looking at the different sellers and auction houses on line.
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Moderator
Australia
16842 Posts |
I think Sear is the only reasonably comprehensive Roman price guide. All the other books you're likely to encounter are reference catalogues, not price guides. Quote:
...plus the updated three volume series. The Millennium Edition Sear catalogue is currently at four volumes and counting. Volume 4 came out a couple of years ago. I believe he's now aiming for Volume 5 to be the final one - though when Volume 2 came out, Volume 3 was supposed to be the final one. I guess we won't know for sure until we see it in print.  Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1549 Posts |
While the books mentioned are fine for learning about coins they will in no way prepare you to understand pricing of ancient Roman coins. Grading ancient coins is a great deal more complex than with moderns and grade makes many times the difference of rarity of minor type variations. Catalogs that give a value in one or two grades mean nothing or less for most coins. While I was disappointed by the book on many levels, perhaps the best effort at a price guide was David Vagi's Coinage and History of the Roman Empire which recognizes that most reverse and minor variations mean little to prices but gives three grades and is recent enough (1999) that you can accept the given price ranges with a little inflation factor (which will vary depending on whether you are buying coins in Baltimore or London). http://www.forumancientcoins.com/do...ok.html#vagiThose interested in a price guide will not need the first volume which is all history and no coins. Overall I can no longer recommend the purchase of the book as I did when it was new but it may be worthwhile for those whose only interest is how much their coins are worth. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3229 Posts |
I will give shout out for Eric II e-Books. http://www.dirtyoldcoins.com/shop/m...n-Books.html For the price ($5-8 per volume; 5 vol.s total) I feel that they are great value. As a pricing guide it gives a general range for each emperor, empress, and coin type. It has great bios and long lists of legends for obverses and reverses. I am also finding it to be a great read! It could have more pics. Each type of obverse and reverse is only pictured once. For example if a ruler has gold coin and a bronze coin with Victory standing rt., the coin will only be shown one time in either gold or bronze. The long lists of obverses and reverses make up for this IMHO. If you are interested in individual volumes, I suggest purchasing volume I with them because it explains how to use all of the volumes in this series. I am still learning to use this resource but have already found it to be very helpful. Has anyone had a chance to compare the e-books to the AORTA hard-copy? I have been thinking about getting it but am concerned it will be redundant. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
Thanks for the recommendations, everyone!
I just ordered a fairly cheap copy of the second volume of David Vagi's Coinage and History of the Roman Empire. So I'll see how it is once it arrives.
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Replies: 10 / Views: 1,509 |
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Posted 02/19/2012 9:21 pm
