It will also serve to warn the young collector against buying in a miscellaneous manner.
Let him take up some particular province; say, for example, Sicily, in which there were some fifty towns which struck coins. He will soon find that the numismatics of these fifty towns will be a field for study which will amply reward him for the labour he bestows upon it.
§ OF THE PRICES OF GREEK COINS.
The prices which Greek coins fetch at sales depend upon their rarity, their state of preservation, and their size, not much upon the artistic or the historical interest, or upon the metal of which they are composed. Thus, a gold coin of Alexander the Great, being common, may be obtained almost at metal value, while a rare copper coin of some obscure town in the heart of Phrygia may cost almost as many pounds as the gold coin of Alexander does shillings.
II. ROMAN COINS.
§ GENERAL CLASSIFICATION.
The coins of ancient Rome are not artistically as interesting as those of Greece. They are, however, most useful for all who desire to become acquainted with the history and institutions of the eternal city.
They may be divided into the following classes:—