Roman Coins and Their Values

I am not a dealer or professional numismatist. I have no doubt that this book offers good value for the professional, but it is especially important for the general collector of Roman coins. I have all three volumes in Sears' series and have nothing but praise for each of them. Each volume is introduced by a very useful introduction to the basics of Roman coinage: Mints, denominations, reverse types, inscriptions, and so on. There is a wealth of information here from which even the seasoned collector may benefit. Each person appearing on the obverse of a coin is given his/her own listing, so you don't have to go looking under Antoninus Pius for listings of Faustina's coins, or under Caracalla for issues of Plautilla and so on. The historical and biographical background has been expanded from Sears' earlier editions and the number of coin varieties and reverse types has easily been quadrupled compared to the previous editions. The coins are separated by denominations and then arranged alphabetically by reverse types, so coin attribution is made very easy. They are not sorted by mint, unlike RIC, and this fact alone makes Sear's system far easier to use. The vast majority of coins a typical collector might acquire is represented in these catalogs. Even the large, multi-volume catalogs such as the monumental RIC cannot list everything. Cross references are made to other standard works, such as RIC (Roman Imperial Coins), the BMCRE (British Museum Collection, Roman Empire), RSC (Roman Silver Coins--which uses Cohen numbers) and Hill. Unlike RIC or BMC, each coin is given a unique Sear number, from 1-12,432. Thus, there is never any confusion as to which number refers to which coin. Representative coins are illustrated in actual size by high-quality black and white photographs and sprinkled liberally throughout the listings. About four coin illustrations per page is typical. Values are given in British Pounds for three grades, which gives one a rough guide to relative price, but no catalog is able to reflect true market prices accurately and this should not be taken as a shortcoming. In short, Sears' catalogs are the best on the market by far. I have RIC, Van Meter and Vagi, and Sears is the one I return to time and again.

This is a standard reference work. Its value does not lie in its estimations of values, but in the well-chosen range of coins shown and identified, and in its long-time use by scholars and numismatists as a comparative tool (giving the Sear # for coins to identify them is standard practice in the field).

Though it is impossible to contain all the Roman coins in a single volume, this is the best single book on coins and their approximate values (given in British pounds).