Roman Provincial Coin References

Roman Provincial Coin References -- Books and Auction Catalogs
Greek imperial coins (so named for the Greek legends on coins minted in Roman imperial times) are beginning to be better known as "Roman Provincial" coins. (for books, see below). Revised Dec. 29, 2017.

Books

It is difficult to get references with anywhere near full coverage of Roman Provincial coin types. The first two volumes of the massive Roman Provincial Coinage do have nearly full coverage for the empire before the Flavians in volume I and the Flavians in volume II. However, they are very expensive. Volumes III and IV and parts of others are on-line at:
http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/project/

No one book will get you very far. Greek Imperial Coins and Their Values by David Sear is the only one-volume list-style reference. It lists 6000 coins and has many pages of helpful notes, but the great majority of Greek imperial coins you buy will not be exactly in there. The field is too vast to be well-covered by a list of only 6000 types! But it is a very good book within that limitation.

Roman Provincial Coins: An Introduction to the Greek Imperials, by Kevin Butcher, is an excellent introduction with a great deal of "meat". It can be read again and again. A slim book, it has excellent photographs of 95 coins and many more line drawings. I must have already read it 8 times, and scanned it many more, and I still like it. If you might be interested in Roman Provincial coins, buy this book. You will learn a great deal. It is not a price guide.

Ancient Coin Collecting IV: Roman Provincial Coins, by Wayne Sayles, is an attractive beginner's book. It will give you some picture of what is out there in the field. The illustrations are of very high grade coins that are quite exceptional. This is unfortunate, because collectors will find that it is almost impossible to collect coins like those. It is an okay place to begin, but you could begin with Butcher's fine work which is better and will take you further into this complex field.

    If you would like to know more about the cities in which your Roman provincial coins were minted, I recommend Michael Grant's A Guide to the Ancient World which is a 728-page alphabetical listing of ancient cities and facts about them. It has recently been reprinted by Barnes and Noble, so it is not as expensive as such a massive work might be. (It probably competes with Wikipedia, but the book more focused on what Roman provincial coin collectors would want to know.)

    For lists of Roman provincial coins so you can look them up, the series by Henry Clay Lindgren (and Frank Kovacs for volume 1) is the most focused and popular.
Ancient Bronze Coins of Asia Minor and the Levant, by Henry Clay Lindgren and Frank Kovacs. Over 3000 coins on 135 page plates. Moslty low and moderate grade. An excellent source for comparison photos. Legends are given, but there is no explanatory text.
Ancient Greek Bronze Coins: European Mints, by Henry Clay Lindgren.   About 1900 coins on 89 plates in sylloge format. It has numerous Greek coins but about half are Roman provincial.
Lindgren III: Ancient Greek Bronze Coins from the Lindgren Collection, by Henry Clay Lindgren. About 1900 coins on 102 page plates in sylloge format, almost all are Roman provincial, from all areas of the empire.
    There is almost no overlap between the types in the three volumes. All show that he must have collected anything new to his collection that came along -- there is no emphasis on quality.

    Roman provincial coins are usually included in "Greek" coin catalogs, such as the Catalog of Greek Coins in the British Museum (which has 29 volumes and costs about $2000, but can be viewed as pdfs). Similarly, SNG (Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum) Danish National Museum (often called SNG Copenhagen) has many Roman provincial coins in its 8 reprinted volumes (about $1000). SNG Copenhagen is the easiest way to get very extensive photographic coverage of a representative selection of Greek coin types. It has many, but far from all, Roman provincial types illustrated. SNG von Aulock "Collection of Greek Coins from Asia Minor" has Greek and Roman provincial coins from Asia Minor. It is in four folio volumes with 8716 coins and 304 page plates. It has exensive coverage of provincial coins from modern Asian Turkey.

Among references that emphasize Roman provincial are

"Righetti" SNG Switzerland 2: Munzen der Antike, The Righetti Collection. By Balazs Kapossy. 3084 coins on 202 page plates, almost all Roman provincial.
    Another massive work with many coins listed. Photos appear to be of plaster casts and are very good, but not superb.
    The coins sold as belonging the the Righetti collection do not overlap these, as far as I can tell (see M&M Deutschland, above).

Roman Provincial Coins, The Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow, SNG Volume XII, parts I and II, by John Goddard. Part I has 2428 Roman provincial coins on 173 page plates. Part II resumes with Cyprus and points east with Plates 174-332, the last 79 plates being coins of Roman Alexandria, Egypt. Large hardcover with B&W photos.

The Syro-Phoenician Tetradrachms and Their Fractions, by Michel and Krin Prier. 216 page hardcover packed with everything you want to know about the tetradrachms of Antioch and other Syrian cities, including photos of every type and rarities, with comments on the mint cities. Excellent!

The Coins of the Decapolis and Provincia Arabia, by Augustus Spijkerman. 322 pages plus 62 page plates of "city coins" of the region plus another 20 plates of archeological site photos. For its region, this is a very good value for its cost.

SNG ANS 6. Palestine - South Arabia. For this region this folio book with 1615 coins, many Roman provincial, on 54 page plates is an extremely good value, originally near $100 but now often available in the $20 range.

Sale Catalogs:

Green means a catalog with coins of high interest. Bold green means a catalog of very high interest.
This category does not include coins of Alexandria, Roman Egypt. That category will receive its own page (when I get around to it).

Peus 366 (25 Oct. 2000) "The Marcel Burstein collection of Roman Provincial Coins" MV. MQP. 1619 ancients on 83 ppl plus 4 color ppl. 5 Celtic, 295 G, 861 RP (on 49 ppl), 98 RR, 327 RI, 28 Byz
    Roman Provincial (861 on 49 ppl)
    Not the highest value coins, but generally very nice and a large number of them.

M&M Numismatics (Washington, D.C.) Auction I (12/97) 412 lots of ancient coins emphasizing Greek Imperial with 165 lots of some of the finest very large Greek imperials throughly described (often only 2 coins per page). The Greek and Roman are great too, but this catalog is very special because it is one of the finest sale offerings of high-value Greek imperial (Roman provincial).
    You will not find average or typical coins here. All are very special.
    Roman Provincial (165 large diameter)

Lanz
92 (6/99) 1305 ancients on 59 ppl. 319 G, 905 R including RP, 4 contorniates, 57 Byz, 9 DA
    AE of Greek Bruttium (3 ppl.), very large diameter Roman Provincial (over 90 pieces c. 36 mm or larger)

Helios 5 (2010, June 25) "Sammlung Dr. Peter Vogl [of Roman Provincial coins]" MV. HQP. 1174 ancients among 1298, all beautifully illustrated in color throughout with a few enlargements. 126 G, 75 RR, 271 RI, 52 Byz, 3 DA, 641 RP. [$10]
    Roman Provincial (641, all in beautiful color)

Leu and M&M
Sammlung Niggler, part 2: (10/66) HV. MQP. "Greek coins of Roman imperial times and Roman coins of the Republic to Augustus" 523 ancients on 28 ppl. 229 RP, 294 RR.
    Roman Provincial (229 high quality), Roman Republican (294)

M&M Basel
41 (6/70) HV. MQP. 619 ancients on 38 ppl + 2 E. 310 G, 309 RP.
    Roman Provincial (309)
81 (9/95) HV. MQP. 998 ancients on 58 ppl among 114 ppl. 108 G, 274 R, 3 Byz, 447 RP, 98 DA (+ 93 Carolingian)
    Roman provincial (447 on 30 ppl), Dark Ages (98)

NAC (Numismatica Ars Classica)
1 (3/89) HV. HQP. 1039 ancients on 59 ppl + 2 color ppl (+ 26 ppl and 2 color of medals). 253 G, 291 Spanish RP, 484 R, 8 DA, 2 Byz. [The first two are in German]
    Spanish Roman provincial (291)

Waddell, Auction I (12/82) 584 nice Roman provincial on 37 page plates.
     Roman Provincial (584)

Helios
3 (2009, April 29-30) 782 ancients among 1113. 7 Celtic, 1 RR imit, 60 G, 10 RR, 204 RI, 17 Byz, 2 Gepids, and an amazing collection of 482 Roman and Roman provincials with river gods.
    An amazing collection of river gods on Roman and Roman provincial coins (482)
5 (2010, June 25) MV. HQP. 1174 ancients among 1298, all beautifully illustrated in color throughout with a few enlargements. 126 G, 75 RR, 271 RI, 52 Byz, 3 DA, 641 RP.
    Roman Provincial (641, all in beautiful color)

M&M Deutschland.   The coins in these are not high value, in fact, many are low value, but the coverage is more extensive than all but a few other catalogs. Also, some issues concentrate on particular regions of the empire and that concentration is particularly valuable for specialists.
1 (9/97) 838 ancients among 1871 on 30 ppl + 1 E + 2 ppl Arabic among 58 ppl. 361 G, 228 RP, 228 R, 23 Byz, 8 DA, 2 ppl Arabic.
    Roman provincial (228 on 11 ppl including Roman Egypt)
11 (11/02) 1015 ancients among 1486 on 44 ppl among 70, plus 1 E. architectural types (mostly temples) 217 RP plus 145 R. 492 G, 115 RR, 39 RI, 3 Byz.
    architectural (217 Roman provincial plus 145 Roman)
12 (2003, April 11) "Sammlung Righetti, Part 1, Egypt." 733 ancients among 1228 on 35 ppl among 61, + 2E. 122 G (including 58 Corinth Pegasi), 158 RP, 23 RR, 85 RI, 344 Roman Egypt, including many drachms from ).
    Roman Egypt (344, including many drachms), Corinth Pegasi (58)
    [Note about Righetti: There are eight sale catalogs of the Righetti collection of Roman Provincial (= Greek Imperial) coins. There is also a large book, SNG Swiss II, of the "Righetti Collection." The coins in the sale catalogs are not in the SNG, and after checking numerous entries I can say that most of the types in the sale catalogs are not in the SNG. It seems that, on average, the coins in the sale catalogs are nicer than the SNG coins. I do not know why these nicer coins did not make it into the museum. The sale-catalog coins are organized by region in a scholarly fashion, not by emperor. Anyone interested in Roman Provincial coins can regard the eight sale catalogs together almost as if they were another SNG volume, but with better coin descriptions and real prices realized.]
   Note: Righetti, part 2 was sold by A.A.G, also an M&M affiliate. Parts 3-8 are below as M&M Deutschland auctions 13 and 15-20.]
13 (2003, Oct. 9) "Sammlung Righetti, part 3, Roman Provincial Coins." 889 ancients among 1237 on 42 ppl among 60, plus 1E.   515 RP (including 51 of the Kingdom of the Bosporus, and strong in Pontus and Caria), 64 G, 11 RR, 205 RI, 5 contorniates, 5 Byz, 48 Turkoman figural bronze
    Roman Provincial (515, including 51 of the Kingdom of the Bosporus), Turkoman bronze (48)
14 (2004, April 16) "Sammlung Bally-Herzog, part II" [Part I was of the top coins, in M&M 93] 925 ancients among 1545, split unusually into the first 322 from the Sammlung (= German for "collection"), mostly RI, illustrated throughout, and the rest on 32 ppl among 58. The 322 are 56 RR and 266 RI. The rest are 112 G, 157 RP, 18 RR, 75 RI, 196 Roman Egypt, and 17 Celtic.
    Roman Egypt (196), Roman Provincial Syria (124)
15 (2004, 21-22 Oct.) "Sammlung Righetti, Part 4, Roman Provincial Coins." MLV. MQP. 1113 ancients among 1348 on 49 ppl among 58. 919 Roman Provincial (Strong in Moesia Inferior, Bithynia, Mysia, Ionia), 45 Greek, 45 Celtic of Gaul, 1 RR, 102 RI.
    Roman Provincial (919)
16 (2005, May 19-20) "Sammlung Righetti, Part 5, Roman Provincial Coins." MLV. MQP.1298 ancients among 1636. 852 Roman Provincial AE (strong in Phrygia, Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Moesia Inferior. A few are Greek) AE, 145 G silver, 39 "Paeonian hoard, 1968," G silver, 17 silver RP, 1 RR, 95 RI, 2 Celtic, 96 Byz AE, 88 Arabic Turkoman bronze.
    Roman Provincial AE (852), Arabic Turkoman bronze (88)
18 (2005, Oct. 5) "Sammlung Righetti, part 6, Coins of the Holy Land." MLV. MQP. 358 ancients among 934. 288 city coins of the Holy Land, 37 Jewish, 22 G, 2 RP, 2 RR, 1 RI.
    Roman provincial city coins of the Holy Land (mostly low grade) (288)
19 (2006, May 16) "Sammlung Righetti part 7" MV. MQP. 854 ancients among 1578. 332 Roman Provincial from the Righetti collection (especially Kilicia = Cilicia, 229), 102 Greek, another 38 RP, 342 RR including many struck AE, 36 RI.
    332 Roman Provincial from the Righetti collection including 229 from Kilikia = Cilicia, RR stuck AE (many among 342 RR)
20 (2006, Oct. 10-11) "Sammlung Righetti, part 8, Syria, Phoencia, and Mesopotamia" 1003 ancients among 1561. 118 G (most AE), 86 RP, 52 Kings of the Bosporus, 4 Celtic, 17 RR, 196 RI, 21 Byz (most AE), 4 Aksum AV, and the Righetti collection of Roman Provincial: 270 Syria, 161 Phoenicia, 73 Mesopotamia.
     Righetti Roman Provincial: 270 Syria, 161 Phoenicia, 73 Mesopotamia.
27 (2008, May 28) 386 ancients among 673 lots, all in color throughout. 167 G, 16 Arabia, 4 Persis, 5 Parthia, 3 Sas, 104 RP including 43 of Mesopotamia, 4 Celtic, 4 RR, 69 RI including 16 solidi, 10 Byz.
    RP of Mesopotamia (43), Arabia (pre-Islamic, 18)

Sternberg
(11/76) [#6, unnumbered] MV. HQP. 1080 ancients. 180 G, 556 Jewish and related and Holy Land RP, 260 R, 43 Byz, 14 DA AE, 24 Arab-Byz. On 47 ppl + 3 of enlargements
    Jewish and related (261), Holy Land Roman Provincial (295), Dark Ages AE (14), Arab Byz (21)
11 (11/81) MV. HQP. 1052 ancients on 52 ppl + 5E + 6 ppl of cut stones. 222 G, 201 RP, 567 R, 17 DA, 9 Arab-Byz, 14 lead seals.
    late Roman AE (on 5 ppl), Roman provincial (201)
35 (10/00) HV. HQP. 1057 ancients on 54 ppl + 15 E + 4 color (+ 15 ppl of cut stones and jewelry + 3 E + 3 color)
    56 Roman Provincial of Spain, 8 Celtic, 260 G, 628 R, 55 Byz, 33 Aksum, 11 DA, 6 Visigothic
    Aksum (33), Roman Provincial of Spain (56)

Vecchi
7 (10/97) 1702 ancients among 2107 on 83 ppl + 3 E among 111 ppl. 541 G, 565 R, 546 RP
    Roman Provincial (546)
12 (6/98) MV. MQP. 1280 ancients among1666 on 50 ppl + 5 E among 73 ppl. 465 G, 478 R, 148 RP, 27 imitations, 38 DA, 52 Byz, 43 British
    Dark Ages (38), Roman Provincial (148), imitations (27)

CNG Many CNG catalogs have a good selection of Roman Provincial coins. Here are a few that are noteworthy.
22 (9/92) mbs. 868 ancients among 993. 280 G, 34 RR, 211 RI, 231 RP (many ex Mabbott), 84 Byz, 17 Celtic England, 3 Saxon
    Roman Provincial (231)
27 (9/93) mbs. 1418 ancients among 1610. 234 Armenian, 112 Greek AE and RP from Lindgren European), 476 G, 73 RR, 295 RI, 176 RP, 41 Byz, 5 Celtic England
    Armenian (234), Roman Provincial (176 + c.100)
35 (9/95) 1371 ancients among 1719, plus 2 color E. 481 G, 208 RR, 372 RI, 188 RP (including 78 from Lindgren II), 90 Byz, 2 DA, 8 Hepthalites, 14 Celtic England, 7 English.
    Roman Provincial (188)
59 was Triton V (1/02) in two volumes, Part I is the "David Freedman collection of Greek bronze coins" 600 G AE. Many enlargements throughout + 5 color E.
    Greek AE (600) highest quality coins.
    Part II: 1341 ancients among 1498, many enlargements throughout + 16 color E among 20. 551 G, 77 parthian 4drs, 10 Baktrain, 103 RP (including important myths including the labors of Herakles), 22 RR cast AE, 27 RR, 402 RI (incouding 23 rare Gordian III from the George His collection), 2 DA, 76 Byz, 4 Celtic England, 2 English DA, 16 pennies
    Roman Provincial (103, including important myths including the labors of Herakles), Gordian III (23), 2 dies
93 (2013, May 22) 1453 ancients among 2077, including "The David Hendin Collection of Scarabs" (132 pieces). 740 G, 320 RP (high quality), 72 RR, 161 RI, 119 Byz ("The Bramhall Collection"), 3 Aksum, 22 DA including 16 Merovingian, 9 crusaders, 8 Arabic
    scarabs (132), Roman Provincial (320 high quality)

Gorny and Mosch, formerly Giessner M�nzhandlung Dieter Gorny GmbH, M�nchen
Roman provincial is regularly separated out beginning with issue 76. Gorny seems to have more nice Roman provincial than most firms. Most issues thatt arenot labeled "high value" have good selections. I get the impression (without certainty) most are selected as among the best pieces from recent hoards, as opposed to old-time collections. Their offerings tend to emphasize coins from European mints.
79 (10/96) 810 ancients + 1 E + 15 ppl of partially illustrated large lots. 347 G, 127 RP, 268 G, 65 Byz.
    Roman provincial (127)
90 (10/98) 1424 ancients + 3 E. 548 G, 164 RP, 619 R, 73 Byz, 10 Byz lead seals, 4 DA.
    Roman provincial (164)
104 (10/00) 1510 ancients + 20 ppl of partially illustrated large lots. 547 G, 237 RP, 574 R, 136 Byz, 6 Byz lead seals
    Roman provincial (237)
126 (13-14 Oct. 2003) "Ancient Coins and Lots" MV. MQP. 2027 ancients plus 244 partially illustrated large lots. 87 Celtic, 514 G, 515 RP, 66 RR, 718 RI, 107 Byz, 3 DA, 3 Arabic, 5 tessera.
    Roman provincial (515)
134 (11-12 Oct. 2004) "Ancient Coins and Lots" MV. MQP. 2366 ancients, plus 228 partially illustrated large lots. 53 Celtic, 707 G, 570 RP, 212 RR, 648 RI, 147 Byz, 7 DA, 2 Arabic, 11 sestertius fakes
     Roman Provincial (570)
142 (2005, 10-11 Oct.) MV. MQP. 2378 ancients plus 210 partially illustrated large lots, among 2588 lots, all in B&W. 78 Celtic, 3 R imitations, 709 G, 301 RP, 5 Roman Egypt, 73 RR, 939 RI (including many sestertii), 224 Byz, 25 Byz seals, 3 DA, 11 Byz glass weights.
    Roman provincial (301)
152 (2006, Oct. 9-10) MV. MQP. 1736 ancients in B&W and 204 large lots. 72 Celtic, 4 imitations, 419 G, 54 Oriental Greek, 32 Baktria, 22 Indo-Greek, 10 Aksumite gold, 243 RP, 95 RR, 568 RI, 3 coins of the mines, 147 Byz.
    Roman provincial (243)
160 (2007, Oct. 8-9) 1853 ancients plus 231 large lots. 33 Celtic, 7 imitations, 20 Panticipaion, 152 Macedonian kings, 25 Persis, 11 Aksumite gold, 229 other Greek, 281 RP (mainly European), 105 RR, 451 RI, 216 Byz (mostly gold), 23 Byz seals.
    Roman provincial (281)
176 (2009, March 9-10) 1853 ancients plus 326 large lots. 38 Celtic, 407 G, 20 Aksumite gold, 279 RP including 16 didrachms of Rhodes, 277 RR, 612 RI, 160 Byz (some AE), 24 Byz seals, 4 DA
    Roman provincial (279)
181 (2009, Oct. 12-13) 1840 ancients plus 155 large lots. 37 Celtic, 9 imitations, 586 G, 278 RP, 122 RR, 557 RI, 226 Byz (including many AE), 19 Byz seals, 7 DA, 4 weights
    Roman provincial (278)
186 (2010 March 8-9) 1618 ancients plus 117 large lots. 23 Celtic, 4 imitations, 483 G, 235 RP, 98 RR, 568 RI, 188 Byz (few AE), 12 Byz seals, 3 DA.
    Roman provincial (235)

Auctiones A.G.
7 (6/77) 875 ancients among 1418 on 30 ppl among 44. 356 G, 161 RP, 327 R, 19 Byz, 12 DA
    large diameter Roman Provincial (among 161)
15 (9/85) 870 ancients 1126 on 36 ppl among 52. 230 G, 166 RP, 427 R, 31 Byz
    Roman provincial (166)
29 (12-13 June 2003) MV. MQP. "Greek Coins under the Roman Empire, Sammlung Righetti, part 2" [in German] 1045 ancients among 1409 on 46 ppl among 64. 51 Spain AE, 78 G AE, 335 G, 41 RR, 140 RI, 322 RP (strong in Spain and European issues), 40 Byz.
    Roman Provincial (322)
    Note: Other Righetti, parts were sold by M&M Deutschland, 12, 13, 15, 16 and 18.

ArtCoins Roma (ACR, Rome, Italy)
4 (2011, Dec. 5) 172 ancients. 447 RP, 286 G, 169 RR, 205 RI, 58 Byz, 4 DA
    Roman Provincial (447)

Gemini VI (2010, Jan 10) (Berk, Kreindler, and Amphora) HV. HQP. 880 ancients among 959. 288 G, 105 Jewish and related, 27 RR, 168 RI, 18 Byz, 2 DA, 209 PR (high quality) [some grouped by consignor]
    Roman provincial (209)

A.G. van der Dussen (Maastrikt, Netherlands) 11 5/8" by 8 1/4"
24 (1-2 June, 1995) "Part 2" MV. MQP. 1387 Roman provincial on only 21 ppl. (not all photographed)
    Roman Provincial (21 ppl)

Peus
369 (2001, 31 Oct.) 1754 ancients and Arabic on 83 ppl. 274 G, 656 R, 88 Byz, 6 DA, 406 Roman Provincial + 15 ppl of Arabic and Turkoman (42).
    Not highly special and the count includes many of Roman Egypt.

Freeman and Sear
6 (10/00) 663 ancients among 701. 181 Byz AE, 182 G, 72 architectural RP, 210 R, 18 Byz AV.
    Byzantine AE (181), architectural Roman Provincial (72)

Waddell, list 2 (2/82) Small format fixed-price list. 71 nice architectural types of the Greek world, among 209 ancients.

Minor catalogs

Fountainhead of Fine Coins, Issues 10, 11, 12 , Winter 1977, Summer/Fall 1978, Summer Fall 1979.
Not too many coins, but very long, informative, and entertaining writeups.

Malloy,
XXIII, (10/87) "Local coinages of the Roman Empire," most in lousy grade and photographs printed on newsprint, but over 500 coins on 16 page plates.
XXXIII (6/92) "Local coinages of the Roman Empire," most in lousy grade and photographs printed on newsprint, but close to 700 coins on 22 page plates.

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