I have a site for beginners, Ancient Roman and Greek Coins, FAQ

To keep this page available, some (not all) links open in a new window. If you click and nothing seems to happen, look in a window already open underneath.

Most sites on the page are Roman. In you prefer Greek, skip down to the Greek sites.
I do not list any dealers individually, but recommend the ancient coin mall:  vcoins.com   
Links on this page (below):
    Identifying ancient coins.  What is it worth?  Roman emperors on coins.  Collecting themes.  Byzantine coins.  Greek coins. Other cultures. Fakes. Cleaning.  I have a page of book recommendations. 

How do I identify a coin I have? What is it worth?

To value a coin you need to know its identification. If you have it well-identified, you can search for similar coins at two commercial sites: 
    VCoins.com  ("search all stores" in the upper right)   and   eBay   (go to "coins" then "ancient". Then "Search" is on the left. However eBay prices listed mean nothing until after the auction closes. Bookmark types that interest you so you can revisit them after they have closed. Many coins don't really sell, and many others triple their price in the last instant. A serious  mistake many beginners make is to think their coin is worth as much as some other coin for sale because the coins are the same "type of coin." But value is even more dependent upon "condition" which is very difficult to describe. Unless you coin is definitely better than one for sale, it might be worth very much less because of its "condition". That's why you need to continue with the next sites.

    (Identifying coins is not easy. Valuing them is even harder. It takes years to get good at it. You might just want to ask an expert.) 

Wildwinds is a well-organized, extensive list of Roman and Greek coin types, with photos, drawn largely from web auctions (with prices). You can look up your coins here. This is one of the major attribution and valuing sources on the web.

An excellent site on late Roman coins, designed to help you identify the most common Roman coins:  http://www.bitsofhistory.com/ace/documents/coin_id/

Every buyer needs to learn about how to evaluate the condition of a coin. Sometimes this is called "grading" the coin, although there is much more to condition than grade (which is, technically, only a term to describe wear).
    Naturally, Doug Smith has done a great job describing condition.
    Calgary Coin Gallery has also discussed grading.
    These two sites describe how coins "should" be graded. Unfortunately, many web sellers (say, on eBay or Yahoo!) grossly misrepresent their coins by overgrading them. Always inspect the picture -- don't believe a stated grade unless you know the dealer.

There is a database of the finest coins offered recently at auction, "CoinArchives.com". All the coins will be expensive and you must use the "search" function. If you know what you have and it is spectacular, you might be able to find similar coins that have been offered recently at the highest-quality auctions (definitely not eBay auctions!).  However, only a very small percentage of coins fit in this category. It is a great site for experienced collectors, but not much use to beginners. 

Do you want to know if the ANS (American Numismatic Society) has a particular coin type? You can search their collection (but not yet see photos) if you already know how to describe a coin you have.

Do you have part of the legend of a coin and want to know the rest and who issued it?
    John Jencek, a dealer, has put together a list of 1000 obverse legends.

I have an ancient coin and I wish I knew what it was. How can I attribute it?
    Without experience, it is not easy to attribute coins. Most of the unattributed "coins" I get asked about are modern fakes. Genuine ancient coins handed down from previous generations usually come with some written identification on the coin holder. If it mentions a Roman emperor, you can then look for more information by searching vcoins.com  .

Roman Emperors on coins:

    A database of Roman coins organized by emperor.  ( dirtyoldcoins.com )
    Of course, you can search vcoins.com to see what coins of the various emperors look like.
    The Virtual Catalog of Roman Coins  A large site with images of coins of each emperor and his relatives who had coins issued for them (not priced).
    Imperial busts may be described as "laureate," "diademed," etc. What do those terms mean? Find out at Portrait styles on Roman Imperial Coinage.
    If you want to see lots of top coins of any particular emperor, search CoinArchives.com which  archives major auction-sale descriptions and results. 
    Many coins are organized by emperor at  http://aeqvitas.com/photo.php

Sites emphasizing a particular emperor: 

    Domitian  (81-96 AD) (Very high grade coins with numerous rare piecesi)
   Trajan (AD 98-117) sestertii (amazingly complete, with denarii and other denominations too)  
    Another collector emphasizes Trajan, but also with Greek coins and coins of other civiliations.
    Hadrian (AD 117-138) on coins of Roman Egypt (not "imperial" coins)  
    Barry Murphy's collection of  Septimus Severus and his family (Caracalla, Julia Domna, Geta, and Plautilla).  High-quality coins well-organized by mint, but not a lot of commentary.
    Doug Smith has a lot on Septimius Severus (AD 193-211) among his many pages. Wait for the main page to load (well worth the wait!) and use the menu. 
    Elagabalus   (AD 218-222)
    Severus Alexander  (AD 222-235. Lots of information and photos of scarcer types, but not many of the common types)
    Gordian III (AD 238-244) 
    Gordian III (AD 238-244)
   Jim Shaffer's site on Philip ("the Arab") 244-249 and his family (with many illustrated antoniniani)
    Doug Smith has a terrific overview of the coins of Philip and his family. 
    Trebonianus Gallus (251-253) and his family
    Gallienus (AD 253-268)
    Tom Ross has a site on Aurelian. (AD 270-275)
    A collection of Probus (AD 276-282)
    Coins of Constantine the Great (306-337).  
The next sites are amazing. They are not that easy to use, but each presents a comprehensive scholarly overview (in French) with very detailed type and issue descriptions, illustrated by coins of most types. The coins are not that great, so I am surprised it was worth the effort to write such a complete catalogs.
    A comprehensive French sale of coins of Probus, left  on the web even after it's over (slow loading).
    A comprehensive French sale of coins of Septimius Severus and his family, left on the web even after it's over (slow loading).
    A comprehensive French sale of coins of Severus Alexander and his family, left on the web even after it's over (slow loading).
    A comprehensive French sale of coins of Maximinus Thrax (235-238), left on the web even after it's over (slow loading). 
    A comprehensive French sale of coins of Gordian III, left on the web even after it's over (low loading). 
    A comprehensive French sale of coins of Philip and his family, left on the web even after it's over (slow loading). 
    A comprehensive French sale of coins of Trajan Decius, left on the web even after it's over (slow loading). 
    A comprehensive French sale of coins of Trebonianus Gallus, left on the web even after it's over (slow loading).
    A comprehensive French sale of coins of Claudius Gothicus and Quintillus, left on the web even after it's over (slow loading).      
    A comprehensive French sale of coins of Aurelian, left on the web even after it's over (slow loading).

Emperors on coins (without much text)
    "Roman Numismatic Gallery" lots of nice images.  

De Imperatoribus Romanis is an on-line encyclopedia of the Roman emperors.

Collecting Themes (Roman)  (This is only a very small section of possible themes. As collectors post more websites showing off their themes, I will expand this list.)

    Campgates (mostly 4th century AD) and ancient architecture. Very many campgate coins.
    The tetrarchy, coins of Diocletian (284-305) and his immediate successors.
    The London mint, 296-325 
    Gallienus (AD 253-268) issued many coins with animals.
    Various animals on ancient coins.
    Architecture on ancient coins.
    Ancient imitations of Roman coins
    "The Family of Valentinian 364 to 395: Bronze Coinage"  (lots of large images on one page) 
     Guide to Late Roman AE coin types, AD 364-450  (a complete list of types of the period)
    Hercules on coins (not all ancient, and only a small fraction of what is possible, but well done)  
    Coins of the (obscure) Roman mint of Tripolis.
    Countermarks on early Roman imperial coins. A beautiful collection with undertypes much better than normal.
    Coins of Roman Egypt struck at Alexandria. 

Roman provincial coins of the Balkans, an online translation of Nikola Moushmov's 1912 classic reference work, Ancient Coins of the Balkan Peninsula, with pages enhanced by addition of links to the Moushmov plates as well as the insertion of individual coin entries from the WildWinds DataBank. Currently translated are 7000 (out of the total 7600) entries covering Dacia, Moesia, Thrace, and Macedonia. A great resource for these collectible coins.
City Gate coins. A magnificient collection of coins with "city gate" types. 
A large and well-presented collection of Roman provincial coins (of all emperors).
Roman Provincial coins of Gordian III (238-244)  

Byzantine Coins: 
A database with Byzantine coins arranged by emperor. 
A private collection of Byzantine bronze coins (not yet easy to navigate, but organized chronologically). 
Byzantine gold coins are extensively illustrated and discussed by a major private collector.
A site with short stories of the Byzantine emerors, illustrated by some of their coins and many beautiful mosaics and buildings of  their time. A very attractive site.
Coins of the Byzantine mint of Cherson at the top of the Black Sea. 

If you are interested in Greek coins, here are some sites:

    The mints of Magna Graecia and their spectacular Greek coins.
    The coinage of ancient Athens .
    The Seleukids, history and coins.
    A site giving links (only links) to everything having to do with the Ptolemys of Egypt.
    The Greek alphabet.
    A series of maps locating the Greek mints.
    Links to sites of museums:  a few major Greek coins.
    Coinage of two Greek-Illyrian city states: Apollonia and Dyrrhachium  (cow and suckling calf type) 
    Greek coins of Velia
    Greek coins of Asia Minor  (including Roman provincial) 
    Coins of Alexander the Great -- a collection with commentary.
    Coins of Alexander the Great -- a database of examples. 
    Coins of the Greek city Miletus (Miletos). 
    In individual's collection of Greek coins.

Coins of other cultures:

Coins of Rome about Parthia by Chris Hopkins. A major theme collection list. Very nice. A part of a larger site on Parthian coins. 

Jewish coins -- the Menorah Coin Project.

More reading about ancient coins:

What could an ancient coin buy?
    Prices in Ancient Rome by McWhorter Collectables.
    (Don't forget to check Doug Smith's sites on almost every topic! He has a good page on what coins could buy.)

How do you pronounce those Roman names, anyway?
    A Latin Pronunciation Guide for Numismatists

If you are interested in ancient imitations (genuinely ancient coins that were counterfeits in their day), I  have a page with information about imitations and many images.  See also Doug Smith's sites. If you want to read recent scholarly literature on them, I have compiled a bibliography of articles on ancient imitations.

How to buy ancient coins. (One of my pages.)

How coin auctions work. (Another of my pages.) 


Concerned about fakes?
    I have a page of links about fakes. 

Books:  If you want book recommendations instead of website recommendations, check out my page "How to learn more about Roman coins."

How can I learn more?

    Here is my site "How to Learn More About Roman Coins"

If you want to do real research, at the advanced level, the ANS (American Numismatic Society) has a search engine for its journal of abstracts of (almost) all numismatic articles, Numismatic Literature.
   You can search for just about any thing, for example, emperor "Hadrian", and see the titles and abstracts of articles that mention "Hadrian" somewhere in the abstract. This is not an easy approach, though, because you will find far too much material at a very detailed level. It is more for going from "intermediate" to "advanced" collector.

Another seach engine for numismatic articles is on line at http://www.harrybassfoundation.org/search_numlit.asp

The American Numismatic Society has a list of links (some broken) to websites on ancient coins at
http://www.amnumsoc.org/eresources/numsites.html

Classics sites without emphasis on coins:

The Rome Project with links to sites on topics of all kinds, political, military, archaeology, philosophy, religion, etc.

A large site that does not emphasize coins, but just what it name suggests, is Electronic Resources for Classicists.

A good basic map showing the provinces of the Roman empire (not the cities), with links to further sites.
Numerous detailed maps of the late Roman empire at various dates (AD 380-660) [in French, but not too dificult to use].

Conclusion:  This site is not intended to be comprehensive. I have not listed many minor sites, but these major sites should get you started. Enjoy!
    --  Warren Esty
Please report broken links to me.
e-mail me at: 

Note well:  Please do not ask me to answer particular questions about Roman or Greek coins (I have a life!), but if you want to recommend to me a major, well-designed, educational site on Roman or Greek coins I would be interested.

First posted 10/27/2000.