Ancient Coin Collecting V: The Romanion/Byzantine Culture

Rating:
Summary: Great Empires Just Fade Away
Review: This review is written from the perspective of the amateur collector on a limited budget. It has been said that collecting ancient coins was the "hobby of Kings". It might also be said that reference books on this subject can only be afforded by Kings, and are certainly less affordable than the coins. Not so with the readable series by Wayne Salyes, past editor of the premier journal on ancient coins, The Celetor. Number five (better to write V) in the series focuses on coins minted by the Roman empire during its long slide into oblivian. Constantinople also called Byzantium, and now called Istanbul, was the capital of the Empire and the center of Christianity from its founding by Constantine the Great in the 4th century to its final demise in the 15th century when the city fell to Mehmet the (Turkish) Conquerer in 1453. Most of us think of Rome as the capital of the Roman Empire but the Eastern half of the empire, while not so glorius, lived a 1000 years longer. Coinage usually reflects the culture, and this is clearly illustrated in Sayles' presentation. It is filled with numerous figures of coins, maps, and geniology. While all of his volumes are usually regarded as "introductory" and for the "new collector" to distinguish them from the comprehensive catalogues used to attribute coins, this particular volume has been particularly useful to me as an affordable attribution reference. It is fascinating to see how the coinage changed from images of emperor and soldiers to images of Christ and crosses. This is a superb addition to the series, fills a gap in the literature, and whets my appitite for volume VI.

Rating:
Summary: Great Empires Just Fade Away
Review: This review is written from the perspective of the amateur collector on a limited budget. It has been said that collecting ancient coins was the "hobby of Kings". It might also be said that reference books on this subject can only be afforded by Kings, and are certainly less affordable than the coins. Not so with the readable series by Wayne Salyes, past editor of the premier journal on ancient coins, The Celetor. Number five (better to write V) in the series focuses on coins minted by the Roman empire during its long slide into oblivian. Constantinople also called Byzantium, and now called Istanbul, was the capital of the Empire and the center of Christianity from its founding by Constantine the Great in the 4th century to its final demise in the 15th century when the city fell to Mehmet the (Turkish) Conquerer in 1453. Most of us think of Rome as the capital of the Roman Empire but the Eastern half of the empire, while not so glorius, lived a 1000 years longer. Coinage usually reflects the culture, and this is clearly illustrated in Sayles' presentation. It is filled with numerous figures of coins, maps, and geniology. While all of his volumes are usually regarded as "introductory" and for the "new collector" to distinguish them from the comprehensive catalogues used to attribute coins, this particular volume has been particularly useful to me as an affordable attribution reference. It is fascinating to see how the coinage changed from images of emperor and soldiers to images of Christ and crosses. This is a superb addition to the series, fills a gap in the literature, and whets my appitite for volume VI.