100 Greatest Ancient Coins

by Harlan J. Berk

Emperors and assassins, owls and turtles, gods and goddesses, brave heroes and villainous rogues--all of these and more await you among the 100 Greatest Ancient Coins. In this beautifully illustrated book, Harlan J. Berk, one of America's best-known ancient-coin dealers, takes you on a personal guided tour of the numismatic antiquities of Greece, Rome, the Byzantine Empire, and other parts of the ancient world. Coffee-table-size, Hardcover, 144 pages, full color, with enlarged photographs and stories for every coin.

Genres: History

131 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2008

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm no coin collector, but after reading Gareth Harney's A history of Ancient Rome in Twelve Coins, I found this book listed in his suggested readings. The listed coins were chosen by a survey of various experts in the field. Many of the coins shown are very rare, with only a literal handful of them known. The coins have been ranked in order of their "greatness", but they appear in the book chronologically. They range from the first coin (an Ionian stater made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver) to the last coin of the Roman Empire (made from melted silver taken from churches in Constantinople during its siege in 1453). The book is very well-designed with beautiful images of the obverse and reverse sides of the coins. It has an introduction on coin collecting, a glossary of the terms used, and an appendix showing all of the coins so that the reader can see their relative sizes.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightfully educational book for anyone interested in Greek and Roman history, not just collectors of ancient coins. The coins are beautiful, many of them outstanding works of art, and the color photos of the obverse and reverse are high quality and magnified to fill the width of the 6.25 inch page. Each coin’s history and subject matter are described with informative, fascinating text that explains who and why the coin was minted along with the relevant events at the time, and that translates the Greek or Latin text on the coin. Like me, you may be inspired to purchase a few of these ancient mementos.

[Donald Scarinci · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a such a great book about ancient coins that I bought it again as an e-book.

[Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating glimpse into ancient history through coins.