![]() ![]() The letters of the legend have been treated more as design elements than as writing. In this case, the coin is even further away from the official design, and although you would be able to find coins with similar styles, they won't quite match this one. It weighs 2.32 grammes and is 19mm across. The first three coins below are of this "unofficial" type, copying coins of Magnentius and Carausius.Ī barbarous bronze probably imitating Carausius. These coins normally imitate late Roman bronzes, and if you want to find a unique barbarous imitation of a Tetricus or Claudius II coin, you won't find it hard. Most unique ancient coins belong to two classes of coins: barbarous or faked imitations of official coins.īarbarous Roman coins were made by the local inhabitants around the edges of the Empire, perhaps to act as semi-legitimate currency in the absence of an adequate supply of officially minted coins, or perhaps so that the local tribes could maintain a degree of indepencence. But apart from this, there are several classes, or types, of coin within which unique coins can easily be found. On my hut coins page, I have a whole page of varieties of just one coin. To count as unique? Most Roman coins show lots of variation in a single type of coin. (Am I being repetitively tautological here?) But you will need to have patience, pay attention to what's around you, and make good use of reference books.Īnd there's an important question to decide – how much unlike other coins does one have to be One of the things I like about ancient coins is that it's possible to find a coin that's unique, unlisted, new to collectors, and previously unknown. ![]() J M Jones, A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins (1998) * - A good source of basic information about the denominations, inscriptions, imperial titles, personifications, deities and everything linked to Roman coins.- Interesting Things About Ancient Coins. J Casey & R Reece (eds.), Coins and the Archaeologist (Seaby, 1988) - A good introduction to the study of numismatics. R A Abdy, Romano-British coin hoards (Shire Archaeology, 2002) - An excellent introduction to coin hoards in Roman Britain and readily available for just £5.99. It also contains lots of useful pictures and lists. R Reece, The Coinage of Roman Britain (Tempus, 2002) * - A good introduction to Roman coins found in this country, coin hoards and site finds (only £10).Ī Marsden, Roman Coins Found in Britain (Greenlight, 2001) * - A useful beginner's guide to Roman coins, with helpful section on copies and forgery. It is particularly effective for the identification of 4 th century copper-alloy coins and is a bargain at just £9.99. R Reece & S James, Identifying Roman Coins, second edition (Spink, 2000) * - This is an excellent guide for the beginner with line drawing illustrations (misleadingly all drawn to the same size). It benefits from providing RRC and RIC references (for all Roman Republican and Roman Imperial coins respectively). It is less comprehensive than RRC and RIC, but significantly cheaper at £40 per volume. D R Sear, Roman Coins and their Values volumes I and II (III in production) (Spink) * - This is the standard collector's handbook.However, it is condensed, difficult to use and poorly illustrated. R A G Carson, P V Hill and J P C Kent, Late Roman Bronze Coinage (Spink, 1960) - Within only 115 pages LRBC lists all bronze coins minted between AD 324 and 498 (covered in 4 volumes of RIC ).It is in many ways easier to use, but it only goes down to AD 238. H Mattingly & R A G Carson, Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, volumes 1-6 (British Museum, 1923-62)īMC has more illustrations and information than RIC.Again Sear provides a cheaper alternative. At a cost £630 for the complete set, RIC is beyond most budgets. Some of the volumes, especially V ( AD 253-94) are now outdated and all suffer from a limited number of illustrations. H Mattingly & others, Roman Imperial Coinage, volumes 1-10 (Spink) - RIC covers all Roman coins from Augustus down to ad 491 and is the most commonly used reference.See Sear below for a cheaper alternative. It is well illustrated and easy to use, but at £165 it is very expensive. M H Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage ( Cambridge University Press) - Roman Republican Coinage is the essential reference work for Republican coins.Books marked with an * are affordable and particularly helpful in identifying and understanding Roman coins. Some are still in print and are available from Spink. The following books and catalogues are recommended and have been the source of much of the material in this guide. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |