This volume is intended as an introduction to Greek and Roman coinage from its first adoption by the Greeks of Ionia from the neighbouring kingdom of Lydia in the mid-seventh century b.c. until the currency reform of the Byzantine emperor Anastasius I in a.d. 498. After a brief introduction by the editor, there follow 33 chapters. The first stands by itself, and is devoted to the scientific analysis of the metallic composition of coins, but the remaining 32 form three main parts surveying the history of Greek and Roman coinage in chronological order. The chapters are in English, but the contributors have been drawn from across the globe and include many distinguished scholars in the field. The format is the same in each case. A survey article is followed by an often extensive bibliography whose purpose is not so much to support the survey as to direct the reader to further reading. The chapters average about nineteen pages, including an average bibliography of about two pages. They are generously illustrated; there are black-and-white photographs of over nine hundred different coins, of both the obverse and the reverse in most cases. The coins are usually reproduced at life-size.

The first part, ‘Archaic and Classical Greek Coinage’, begins with Kroll on the monetary background of early coinage, followed by Konuk on the initial invention of coinage in Asia Minor, before then proceeding with the main developments in each major geographical region in turn, Alram on the coinage of the Persian empire, Van Alfen on the coinage of Athens, Sheedy on the coinage of Aegina and the other main islands, Rutter on the Greek coinage of Italy, Fischer-Bossert on the Greek coinage of Sicily, and Psoma on the coinage of the rest of Greece and the Balkans. The second part, ‘The Hellenistic World’, begins with Callataÿ who surveys the coinage of Philip II and Alexander the Great before focussing on the coinage of their successors in Asia Minor. There follow Ashton on the coinage of the cities of mainland Greece and Asia Minor, Lorber on the coinage of the Ptolemies, Houghton on the coinage of the Seleucids, Tal on the Greek coinages of Palestine, and Sinisi on the coinage of the Parthians. The third part, ‘The Roman World’, begins with Burnett on Roman coinage before the introduction of the denarius c. 211 b.c., Woytek on the coinage from c. 211 b.c. until the emergence of Octavian as sole ruler in 31 b.c., Wolters on the coinage of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, and continues onwards in the same chronological fashion. Hence there follow Carradice on the coinage of the Flavians, Beckmann on the coinage of Trajan and Hadrian, Yarrow on the coinage of the Antonines, Abdy on the coinage of the Severans, Bland on the coinage of a.d. 238–74, Estiot on the coinage of the late-third century, Abdy on the coinage of the tetrarchy and the Constantinian dynasty, and Moorhead on the coinage of a.d. 364–498. The sequence ends with a survey by Stahl on developments in the West until Pepin's reform of Frankish coinage c. 754 replaced the last vestiges of Roman and Byzantine coinage in the West. However, this sequence is interrupted at points by a small series of chapters dealing with Roman provincial coinage, Amandry on provincial coinage until the death of Hadrian, Johnston on provincial coinage after the death of Commodus, Gitler on the Roman coinages of Palestine, and Geissen on the coinage of Roman Egypt. There is also a chapter by Ripollès surveying the full range of coinages of the Iberian peninsula.

The title does not do this volume full justice, since it also includes chapters on the coinage of Achaemenid Persia, Arsacid Parthia and of the native peoples of the Iberian peninsula. However, there are certain obvious omissions. It is regrettable that there is no survey of the coinage of Carthage in particular, and while it might not have deserved a full chapter to itself, Etruscan coinage surely merited a couple of pages. Furthermore, a chapter on the adoption of coinage in imitation of various Greek or Roman models by the different Celtic peoples stretching from the Danube to southern Britain could have proved useful. Certainly, it is not clear why the coinage of Achaemenid Persia deserved to be included while that of the Celts was omitted. The editor does not try to justify these decisions as to what to include or exclude, except for a brief note, ‘there are some gaps in coverage (notably North Africa and Bactria)’ (p. xviii). This brings us to the most disappointing feature, and its only real fault: its small size relative to many other volumes within the same series, which are sometimes almost twice as long. It is exasperating, therefore, that it can be quite repetitive at times as when Konuk (pp. 51–3) anticipates Alram on the coinage of Darius (pp. 64–6), or Alram (pp. 62–4) repeats Konuk (pp. 43–9) on Lydian coinage. Tighter editing could have provided the space for some of the topics omitted.

There are a few minor quirks, or problems, more a question of personal judgement, perhaps, than of anything else. For example, while the editor uses the introduction to define some of the key numismatic terms and to explain the usefulness of numismatics to other disciplines, the main text begins in an odd fashion with a discussion of the scientific analysis of coins by methods such as x-ray fluorescence and neutron activation analysis. This seems an excellent discussion in itself, but it does not belong where it currently stands. A history of the modern study of Greek and Roman coinage from the time of the Renaissance would have proved a better first chapter, perhaps leading into this survey of the ways in which modern scientific advances can benefit the field. Similarly, the book ends rather abruptly. Given the current vogue for reception studies, a chapter on the continued influence of classical coinage in the modern period might have provided a nice epilogue (as on the designs on the coinage introduced by the Irish Free State in 1928). Otherwise, it is difficult to understand why the coinage of Augustus was not thought to merit a full chapter to itself, given the length and the importance of his reign, in numismatic terms as well as in so much else, rather than being subsumed into a chapter on the coinage of the Julio-Claudians as a whole. Most chapters tend to focus more on the size, weight, metallic composition and relative values of the coins than on their actual design. Hence one or two chapters discussing the significance of key elements of typology or the changing patterns of typology over space and time might have proved a useful addition. The coin specimens chosen for illustration could sometimes be improved upon. Occasionally, the coins are a little too worn (e.g. fig. 18.5) or are so dark (e.g. fig. 16.8) that the resultant photographs are quite poor. More often, the relevant details can be hard to spot in life-size images (e.g. fig. 31.7). Some contributors provide much fuller and more useful descriptions of their illustrations (e.g. Butcher, pp. 480–2) than do others. There are no factual errors, although there is an occasional misleading statement, as in the comparison of the bull on the coinage of Julian Apostate to a sacrificial bull (pp. 597–8) when one of the few things that students of his reign can agree on is that this was not a sacrificial bull (Woods, AJN 12 [2000]).

This volume is destined to become a standard reference work. It is up to date, comprehensive, well-written and, most importantly, accessible to non-specialists, to the educated public as well as to classicists. It deserves a place on the shelf of every collector, dealer and classicist, and in every university library at least, if not in every public library also.