Read the Book before you Buy the Coin

Historia Numorum - Barclay V. Head

The joy in handling a Greek coin, apart from its aesthetic value, is feeling a connection with the people who may have handled it over 2,000 years ago.  To understand these people, you need to understand the context of the coin. Using ancient texts such as Herodotus, Strabo or Diodorus is a starting point but leveraging the knowledge and interpretation of scholars from the late Victorian age onwards provides you with a wealth of additional information.   Early studies of Greek coins were fragmented, often just catalogues of personal collections, but in the early 1900’s a number of scholars attempted to codify Greek coinage.  One of earliest and most successful of these was Barclay Head, who was keeper of the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum from 1893 to 1906.  His Historia Numorum, illustrated here, is the first book I turn to when acquiring a new coin.  This version is threadbare through constant use, but it has that old antique feel despite being the later 1911 second edition of his seminal work.  While some opinion may have been superseded, his careful and analytical approach always provides a solid foundation for research.