We live in a golden age of sorts when it come to the endlessly fascinating subject of ancient coins. The Internet has transformed coinage research, collecting and even influences public policy.

The wealth of resources available at your fingertips is astounding.

Here is just a sample :

http://www.celator.com

"The world's premier journal for ancient coin collectors" has been around since 1986 and is an excellent and accessible reference for novice or seasoned coinheads. Published by author and collector Wayne Sayles.

http://www.amnumsoc.org

The website of the American Numismatic Society has a wealth of

information for collectors of both ancient and modern coins.

Here is an example:

http://www.numismatics.org/publications/romangeneral/

http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/

This great site is a visual feast of Greek, Roman and Byzantine coin images, indexed by reference number and ruler. The site's search engines can help you identify a coin by inscription.

http://vcrc.austincollege.edu/

The Virtual Catalog of Roman Coins is specifically geared to

history education through the study of coinage and has a wealth of resources, articles and links.

http://www-cm.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/coins/sng/

This database site is a research work in progress by the British Academy.

The collections primarily represent Classical Greek and Hellenistic mints, they include Roman provincial coins.

http://www.accg.us/

Everything is political these days, even coin collecting. The American Coin Collecting Guild is fighting to defend the right of private citizens to collect and study ancient coins.