ID And Question About Iding

Hello BuffaloBonehead, to the ancients section.

The coin in your link looks like a Silver Tetradrachm of Alexander the Great - I dont know much about these so cant 100% ID it but you can find more examples and info here:

http://www.alexandertetradrachms.com/

As far as books go they can be very expensive and often the info on the web is more in-depth and up to date, certainly for a beginner.

Three good sites to start with are the following:

http://dougsmith.ancients.info/
http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/nu...t%20Cultures

There are many, many good sites like these on the web, the second link is good for IDing coins as you can get very complete lists of issues by Emperor with thumbnails. Example here:

http://wildwinds.com/coins/ric/constantine/t.html

People often recommend different books but one that always seems to appear in peoples lists is this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Roman-Coins-T...p/0713478233

I bought my copy 20 years ago so have no real idea how much you should be paying for a copy today, sorry. Its essentially a catalogue of coins with basic info relating to Roman issuers, I only collect Roman so cant help with other areas books or websites.

Those are good links posted by Bobby! The coin has grafiti and of course the hole; it appears to be an Alexander the Great tetradrachm. If you're considering bidding on this one, I'm not sure what a reasonable price is, considering the wear and damage. If I were bidding, I would probably not go over $70.

These coins tend to be expensive but they show up often enough where you can find one in better condition that is worth the extra expense.