MORE ON DAVID MACDONALD

I remember my conversations with David MacDonald in late 2006 and early 2007. He had recently retired from 34 years of teaching in the History department of Illinois State University, and he had a new book idea. It would be a study in Greek chronology and monetary theory as told through overstruck Greek coins. "Can you give me a brief analysis of current competition?" I asked. "There are no similar books," was Mac's reply. (There were some narrowly specialized articles about individual overstruck Greek coins, or related groups of coins, published in foreign journals.) That made my next question moot --- "How would your book be superior to others in the same field?" There were no others in the field!

Whitman Publishing already had several books about ancient coins in its back list. There was the Handbook of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins, a very popular volume that combined two earlier works by Zander Klawans (skillfully edited together by Kenneth Bressett); Money of the Bible (authored by Bressett); Coins of the Bible (by Arthur Friedberg); and 100 Greatest Ancient Coins (by Harlan J. Berk). Ancient coins were also discussed in chapters or sections of other Whitman books. MacDonald's study would be a more specialized exploration of the subject, intended for serious numismatists, but intriguing enough to appeal to general collectors and historians.

We had a few more conversations, and in March 2007 signed a publishing agreement for what would become his book Overstruck Greek Coins. It was published in September 2009. We submitted the book in the 2010 Writers' Competition of the Numismatic Literary Guild. Mac wasn't able to make it to Boston for the annual American Numismatic Association World's Fair of Money, where the NLG held its awards banquet. Overstruck Greek Coins earned the prize for "Best Specialized Book on World Coins." I was honored to accept the award on his behalf.

David MacDonald's sterling reputation in the field of history was well deserved. He inspired his students and colleagues. No less an ancient-world authority than Harlan J. Berk said of Overstruck Greek Coins, "The sophistication of ancient cultures in monetary terms was revealed to me by this remarkable volume." Mac touched a lot of lives and encouraged many people to dig deeper in their studies. I'm grateful to have been part of his life as a published and celebrated author.

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
NEW BOOK: OVERSTRUCK GREEK COINS BY DAVID MACDONALD (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v12n34a03.html)
BOOK REVIEW: OVERSTRUCK GREEK COINS BY DAVID MACDONALD (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v12n41a05.html)
DAVID JOHN MACDONALD (1943–2025) (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/
esylum_v28n28a05.html)

   

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