Greek Coins and Their Values Volume 1: Europe [Hardcover]

David R. Sear (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 322 pages
• Publisher: Sanford J Durst (June 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0900652462
• ISBN-13: 978-0900652462
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,799,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great attribution reference, January 20, 2001

By 

JAMES M. MCGARIGLE (Merrill, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Greek Coins and Their Values Volume 1: Europe (Hardcover)

This is an essential reference for any collector of ancient Greek coinage - this volume is the 1st volume of a 2 volume set. This volume covers the "European" Greek coins, the 2nd volume is Asia Minor and African Greek coins. It is 356 pages long in total, 40 pages of introductory material which includes an illustrated history of Greek coinage, a showing of several different denominations, deities and helps for dating and various archaic alphabets and some more specialized books that were used in composing this handy reference.

The geographical areas covered are: Spain, Gaul, Britain, the Celts of Central Europe and Asia Minor, Italy, Sicily, Northern Greece, Illyria & Central Greece, Peloponesia, the Cycladic isles and Crete. There are 3,395 coins listed in volume one and 1500 pictured. There are also maps of all the aforementioned areas at the beginning of each chapter.

Not every single coin minted is pictured or listed but boy - if it's not in this book or it's companion Volume 2, buy it! This is a pretty thorough reference work and for what you will come across in the everyday market, this will certainly get you through most of what you will see. Anything more complete will be in a large multivolume set costing several hundred or possibly a couple thousands of dollars so I would not pass on this book waiting for something better. I also would not count on finding an internet site or software program anytime soon that will prove to fill this need. The one strike against this book is you must not take these prices as set in stone. They do not reflect the new reality of today's rapid exchange of sales taking place on the internet. In addition to that, the prices are in British pounds as the author is from the UK and this will throw some American users. Once you get over that, take the prices as a guide as to the commoness and/or availability of a given issue. If it lists for £15 - £50, it may be a pretty affordable piece to add to your collection. If it lists in excess of £1000, I would not count it out, but you may have to save a substantial amount of money to afford it.

Overall, without spending 100s of dollars, this is the best guide you can get to attribute ancient Greek coins from Europe for your greek coin collection. It's numbering system is the most commonly used by collectors and dealers alike. It has an easy to follow and consistent format and is copiously illustrated and documented. If you collect ancient Greek coins, it belongs on your shelf.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sear Greek Coins vol 1, August 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Greek Coins and Their Values Volume 1: Europe (Hardcover)

This is a great work on European (ancient) Greek coins. It has photos of many of the coins listed here, as well as brief descriptions of the features. Although the values are listed in British pounds, it gives you an idea of relative prices. Very important reference work for the collector of ancient Greek coins!