by David R. Sear Volume 1: Greek Civic Coins & Tribal Issues My latest book is intended to provide a general background to the fascinating world of ancient coins, originating more than 26 centuries ago in western Asia Minor and spanning 1,100 years down the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the commencement of the Byzantine period in the late fifth century A.D. It is not a catalogue listing of types but rather an explanation of how coinage evolved in the Mediterranean basin throughout the Graeco-Roman period. It is lavishly illustrated in the text with coin images, mostly in color, and includes a wealth of historical and geographical information. The first of a three-volume series, Volume I covers the civic coinages of the Greek cities and the tribal issues of the Celts and other peoples down to the first century B.C. Future volumes will cover the issues of the great Hellenistic monarchies, the successors to Alexander the Great's vast conquests (Volume II); while the third volume will describe the history and development of the Roman coinage from it origins in the early third century B.C. and will include a survey of the provincial issues, commonly known as the 'Greek Imperial' series. Each volume will contain a useful chronological table, a glossary of terms that may be unfamiliar to the novice collector, a series of maps, and an index of inscriptions to aid identification. This is the first book to be published in Spink's new 'Living History' series and is the initial volume in what is planned to be a three-volume set. This ambitious work will cover the entire spectrum of ancient coinage in the Mediterranean world and beyond over a period of eleven centuries. Ancient coins have long fascinated generations of collectors by virtue of their aesthetic beauty, the stories they tell, and for the unique insight they provide into the history of the era in which they were produced. They can be held, felt and examined without the need for visiting a museum - they are, quite literally, living history. This first volume contains almost 500 pages of text and is comprehensively illustrated with more than 600 coin illustrations in the text. Details of future volumes in the series will appear on this webpage ahead of publication. Price $85.00 plus $15.00 priority mail shipping (domestic orders).