New book from DAVID SEAR

[Ocatarinetabellatchitchix]

 

This second volume of the series is very different from the reference catalogs or for collectors that the author wrote during his very long numismatic career, since 1958. As its title indicates, it is an introductory guide devoted to coins Greek and Roman. Therefore, do not seek numbering or quotation, but a historical and numismatic introduction. After a first volume, published in 2020, devoted to the coinage of cities and kingdoms, which covered the oldest periods since the creation of Greek coinage in Asia Minor in the second half of the 5th century BC, Sear gives us the second opus of his trilogy, devoted this time to the coins of the Hellenistic monarchies from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra. 
 

The nine chapters of the work are no longer only chronological, but embrace the history of the kingdoms which were constituted with Alexander the Great, then confronted with his successors Diadochi and Epigones before disappearing in the 1st century BC under the Roman pressure. This instructive presentation is divided into several parts. It begins with "why collect ancient coins", fallowed by a brief chronology, completed by a long historical introduction which ends with a rich glossary from abacus to zodiac. The book ends with a brief bibliography, increased by three maps and a plate of busts of the main monarchs. Two index, the first devoted to legends and inscriptions, very useful for the reader unfamiliar with the reading of ancient Greek, and the second which is a general index in alphabetical order from Abbaitis in Phrygia to Zoilus I king Indo-Greek, complement and close the book pending the publication of the third and final part of this series. You can get a printed copy for 50 euros, or the downloadable version for 30 €. 

[Al Kowsky]

This book sounds like a "must have" ☺️.

 

[Deinomenid]

I picked this up at their showrooms back in March, stupidly only now realizing  it was new. A small but  helpful change is he now shows all illustrated coins at actual size rather than the slight strange  uniformity in  vol 1. 

 

 

[DonnaML]

@Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, thank you! Is this series really intended to be only a trilogy? In which case, the third volume would cover all of Roman coinage? I don't mean to be overly pessimistic or morbid, but does anyone know just how old David Sear is?

Edited August 30, 2023 by DonnaML

[Deinomenid]

"The final volume will aid the collector who wishes to gain an overall understanding of the coinage of Rome. Extending over almost eight centuries, this immense  subject covers the monetary output of the Roman  Republic (c280-27BC), the Roman Empire down to the deposition of the last emperor in the West (AD 476) and the provincial  coinage of the Imperial era which provided the local  currency in the Greek cities and Roman colonies,  mostly  in the East,  until the closing decades of the third century AD. This last class of coinage is popularly referred to as 'Greek Imperial' as in many cases it is a continuation of the autonomous civic  issues of the Greek period."

Going to be a heavy book!

[kirispupis]

AND...there's another book for my pile... 🙂 

I can't recall any other coin volume that said "buy me" so much.

[AETHER]

Nice, got a link? Don't see it on his site.

[Ocatarinetabellatchitchix]

1 hour ago, DonnaML said:

does anyone know just how old David Sear is?

81 years old (1942).

 

18 minutes ago, AETHER said:

got a link

https://www.amazon.com/Introductory-Guide-Ancient-Greek-Coinage/dp/1912667878/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3GC0YAB5X835F&keywords=An+introductory+guide+to+Ancient+Greek&qid=1693429488&sprefix=an+introductory+guide+to+ancient+greek%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-4
 

https://spinkbooks.com/products/an-introductory-guide-to-ancient-greek-and-roman-coins-volume-ii-regal-coins-of-the-hellenistic-age-by-david-sear

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

I purchased the pdf.  I skimmed through it and found it moderately useful, as I'm looking more for catalogs. Well worth the price, however.

However, I discovered that many of the Roman, Greek, and Byzantine books were downloadable as pdf's.  With one eye still in recovery, this was an immensely useful discovery.  It's nice to have a pdf copy of the Byzantine book.  I don't have a great pdf reader on my Android, but it would also be nice to have it as an on-the-go reference.  I now finally have RCV IV!  I now have the Byzantine one, all five Roman RCV's, and the Imperators volume. 

Pdf's are far easier to pull up quickly and speedily ID a coin.

The Spink search function is pretty terrible - the title has to be pretty exact for it to come up.  I'll have to see if the Imperators one is available as pdf.

 

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

I'm so glad this thread came up!  While Kindles and .epubs are pretty useless to me, the .pdf is great!  I've already downloaded several editions I have in print, as well as purchasing the recent Carausius book.

Having one good eye makes reading a paper book very difficult.   The pdf, on my large monitor, is great.

The Sear Imperators book doesn't seem to be available in pdf, unfortunately.  I have the print edition.

I think I'll probably get the pdf of RCV III next, and then one.