Numismatic Literature，Porter, Gerald S., Elephants In Numismatics and Exonumia from Ancient to Modern Times, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvannia, 1993, 243 pages, softcover, Gerald Porter has compiled a wonderfully comprehensive volume bringing together a diverse collection of elephants of numismatic interest. This book is a real treat, from its cover depicting the quadriga on a Roman bronze coin of Lucius Verus (161-169 A.D.) right through to the end. Within are listed over 2,100 different types with over 3,000 total varieties and hundreds of illustrations, both photographs and hand drawings. Detailed descriptions of each item are given, including medal content and size, and provenance when known. Porter begins with a pachyderm "frontispiece" comparing the anatomical characteristics of the African and Asian elephants. Following this is a table of contents which includes: Ancients; Modem Coins; United States Tokens, Medals, and Exonumia (Advertising and Political); and World Tokens, Medals, and Currency. The Ancient section is particularly expansive, with categories for Greece, Eastern, Eastem-Islamic, Eastem-non-Islamic, and Pane, as well as additional clear sub-categories. The book ends with an extensive bibliography and useful index. This volume by Porter is so wide-ranging that there is something of interest here for almost everyone. It will have great appeal to collectors and historians and to dealers and auction houses as a useful reference.
