100 Greatest Ancient Coins

With the expanded third edition of his award-winning 100 Greatest Ancient Coins, author, researcher, and one of America’s best-known ancient-coin dealers, Harlan J. Berk takes you on a personal guided tour of the numismatic antiquities of Greece, Rome, the Byzantine Empire, and other parts of the ancient world.

Each coin in this book ranks as one of the greatest relics of antiquity. Individually, they stand out as unique pieces of history, artistry, and human effort. Collectively, they tell the story of civilization from the glory days of the ancient Greeks to Europe’s descent into the Dark Ages. Berk’s passion for the beauty and workmanship of coins shows through in his writing, which is highly informative, sometimes gossipy, and always thought-provoking. The coins described in the book, he says, ＂have been collected almost since they were issued. There is evidence that the leaders of some great cities issued wonderful artistic coins made by recognized artists so that future generations would know what heights they reached. . . . Renaissance kings and princes collected coins. Today ancient coins are collected around the globe.＂

In this expanded and revised edition, Berk has added new information about the earliest surviving forms of human art--ancient cave paintings--and draws a direct line to the earliest examples of coinage. He has given special attention to the first-ranked coin, Brutus’s Eid Mar, minted to mark the overthrow of Julius Caesar, and the owl tetradrachms of ancient Athens, one of the mostly widely used coins of the ancient world. New coin rankings, new photographs, recent market information, an illustrated glossary, and other updated contents make the book a visual treat as well as an educational reference.

＂I can’t think of another person more qualified to have written this popular book than Harlan J. Berk. An impressively entertaining and informative volume . . . a fun book to read for anyone interested in ancient history.＂ -- Author and numismatist David Hendin

＂A remarkable catalog of 100 exceptional coins . . . invaluable for all serious ancient-numismatic academics, historians, dealers, and amateurs alike.＂ -- British numismatist and author Italo Vecchi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Foreword, by David Hendin
• Preface, by the publisher
• Introduction
• How to Collect Ancient Coins, and What to Avoid
• Ionia Electrum Stater (No. 81)
• Ephesus Phanes Electrum Stater (No. 61)
• The Coinage of Croesus (No. 9)
• Cyzicus Electrum Staters (No. 75)
• Alexander I of Macedonia Octadrachm (No. 49)
• Poseidonia Stater (No. 26)
• Delphic Tridrachm (No. 38)
• Aetna Tetradrachm (No. 22)
• Cos Discus Thrower Stater (No. 42)
• Aegina Sea Turtle Stater (No. 16)
• Syracuse Demareteion Decadrachm (No. 5)
• Athens Decadrachm (No. 2)
• Naxos Tetradrachm (No. 4)
• Cnossus Minotaur Stater (No. 48)
• Thebes Stater (No. 69)
• Athens Tetradrachm (No. 10)
• Melos Stater (No. 91)
• Acragas Skylla Tetradrachm (No. 21)
• Zeus Olympic Stater (No. 55)
• Gela Tetradrachm (No. 18)
• Kimon Decadrachm (No. 6)
• Euainetos Decadrachm (No. 3)
• Arethusa Facing Head Tetradrachm by Kimon (No. 7)
• Syracuse Tetradrachm (No. 17)
• Camarina Didrachm (No. 24)
• Acragas Decadrachm (No. 8)
• Larissa Drachm (No. 54)
• Syracuse Arethusa 100-Litra Coin (No. 19)
• Carthaginian Dido Tetradrachm (No. 15)
• Clazomenae Tetradrachm (No. 47)
• Rhodes Tetradrachm (No. 27)
• Amphipolis Tetradrachm (No. 29)
• Metapontum Stater (No. 36)
• Panticapaeum Gold Stater (No. 39)
• Tarentum Horseman Stater (No. 45)
• Tarentum Gold Stater (No. 32)
• Philip II Tetradrachm (No. 44)
• Alexander the Great Tetradrachm (No. 20)
• Corinth Stater (No. 23)
• Alexander the Great Porus Decadrachm (No. 43)
• Lysimachus Tetradrachm (No. 52)
• Demetrius Poliorcetes Tetradrachm (No. 56)
• Aes Grave As (No. 34)
• Pergamon Gold Stater (No. 51)
• Arsinoë II Gold Octadrachm (No. 74)
• Ptolemy III Dynastic Octadrachm (No. 84)
• Berenike II Dodecadrachm or Pentadecadrachm (No. 58)
• Hannibal Coin (No. 25)
• Roman Oath-Taking Stater (No. 68)
• Roman 40-As Gold Coin (No. 71)
• Flamininus Gold Stater (No. 63)
• Pharnaces I of Pontus Tetradrachm (No. 79)
• Perseus ＂Zoilos＂ Silver Tetradrachm (No. 67)
• Eucratides I Heroic Bust Coin (No. 80)
• Orophernes Silver Tetradrachm (No. 82)
• Sulla Aureus (No. 72)
• Cleopatra VII Ascalon Mint Tetradrachm (No. 30)
• Caesar Portrait Denarius (No. 14)
• Sulla’s Dream Denarius (No. 73)
• Octavian and Julius Caesar Aureus (No. 35)
• Brutus ＂Eid Mar＂ Denarius (No. 1)
• Quintus Labienus Aureus (No. 40)
• Sextus Pompey Aureus (No. 46)
• Cleopatra and Mark Antony Portrait Denarius (No. 12)
• Augustus Cistophorus With Sphinx Reverse (No. 28)
• Augustus Facing Portrait Denarius (No. 53)
• Tiberius Denarius (Biblical Tribute Penny) (No. 50)
• Jerusalem Temple Shekel (No. 62)
• Caligula Three Sisters Sestertius (No. 60)
• Britannicus Sestertius (No. 41)
• Nero Port of Ostia Sestertius (No. 13)
• Clodius Macer Portrait Denarius (No. 78)
• First Revolt Year 5 Shekel (No. 37)
• Titus ＂Judea Capta＂ Sestertius (No. 33)
• Titus Colosseum Sestertius (No. 11)
• Trajan Danube Bridge Sestertius (No. 57)
• Hadrian Year 874 of Rome Aureus (No. 66)
• Bar Kochba Year 1 Tetradrachm (No. 59)
• Antoninus Pius Labors of Hercules Drachms (No. 96)
• Commodus Portrait Sestertius With Lion Skin of Hercules