Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Coinage [Hardcover]

This Oxford Handbook is a lovely book with generous black and white coin photos. Each chapter was written by a different specialist so their approaches vary. For example, some chapters examine the coin design typology and symbology (my core interest) in more depth than others. The attribution of illustrations range from full attribution to relatively unhelpful catalog numbers in other references.

WHAT I REALLY LOVE about this book is that the illustrations depict accessible coins, ones that I can and do have in my collection. I find books that focus on rarities to be dispiriting and unhelpful. I mainly want to learn about the coins that I can collect, not worship at the altar of coins so removed from my life that they are effectively abstractions.

None of the chapters is dry or boring. I find that each one captivates in its own way. I really appreciate the detailed bibliography following each chapter. For my uses these surpass any other bibliographic material that I have available to me (Ancient Greek Numismatics, Ancient Coin Reference Reviews).

Overall I am very pleased with the chapter on Roman Egypt, my main collecting area. I was cheered by the author's assertion:

"The chief value of the Alexandrian coinage resides in its abundance of reverse types; their importance as a source for the study of the political history, culture and religion of the province can scarcely be exaggerated."

which contrasts with Poole and others who downplay the uniquely Egyptian aspects of the designs. It also corresponds to my approach to collecting, which organizes Alexandrines and other provincials by their reverse type, rather than by emperor.

I have one major peeve about the Roman Egypt section: It addresses bronze and billon coins and even lead tessera, but it makes no reference to potin!! I find this to be a limitation of numismatics in general. I would love to learn more about the advent of potin for coinage in Egypt, but it is largely unremarked upon. Often potin tetradrachms are cataloged as billon, which may be literally true, they may contain a trace of silver, but it is a distinctive coinage material that deserves to be addressed in its own right. A silvery Serapis Tet of Hadrian or a Galley with leaping dolphins Tet of Nero may be beautiful, but the chocolate surfaces of a pristine potin tetradrachm of Probus (for example) have their own claim to beauty and mystery as well.

Roman Provincials beyond Egypt are also well covered in this Handbook. Surprisingly so. Although the individual chapters are well done, I think classical Greece is somewhat less comprehensively covered than Rome and the Hellenistic World. I am surprised that the bronzes of Italy and Sicily did not receive specific attention.

In summary: This is my new favorite book on ancients in general!!

This handbook aims to fill the gap between general reference works intended for collectors and highly specialized studies addressed to numismatisis. While I appreciate the spirit of the effort I think overall the work falls a bit flat. The authors of the thirty-two chapters are all well known experts in their fields and the present a summary of recent scholarship in numismatics starting from the first electrum coinage through the Roman period. I think this is where the flaw lies, most of the chapters are summaries and dilutions of current scholarly work lacking a generalists fine prose and a specialists enhanced detail.
I would rather read a well written compendium by a more gifted author such as the editor William E. Metcalf that leaves out some of the details in the furtherance of a good story. Specialist collectors will either already have access to the key source papers in their areas of expertise or will want to read the sources in whole rather than a watered down summary. Thus in making this compromise neither the general collector nor the specialist is well served.
his is not to say that the book is without merit. It is a sufficient overview for those looking to get some general knowledge on areas of numismatics they may not specialize in. The prose is readable enough to allow the more casually interested to get to the end of each chapter. Plus, the work does focus on the last two decades of research thus at least allowing the specialists to identify important papers in numismatics for futher study.

On the whole I'd rather read a good general overview and then get the specific details undiluted but your mileage can vary.

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