Monumental Coins: Buildings & Structures on Ancient Coinage

Rating:
Summary: A pleasure to read !
Review: From beginning to end, I enjoyed reading this book.

Each chapter can be read on its own, as a series of articles on the subject, but going through them all, makes clear the wealth of information that can be gathered from the tiny masterpieces of art preserved on ancient coins. Buildings of all types are depicted on coins and on reconstructions; some history of the structures accompanies text.

Coins depicted alongside the text are hand drawn, something that was the standard on most early books. This allows the author to stress or fill in details that the actual photograph can't provide, and as they are in a larger size than the coins themselves I didn't have to struggle to notice them. Photographs at the end of the book (black and white, why not in color?) provide the feeling of the real size and appearance of what survives today.

So, if you are fond of ancient history, or numismatics, you'll find yourself at ease with this book. I ended looking for further information in both fields. It brought about for me a new awareness of coinage in the Roman world.