The Roman Coin (Class) Project

What grade level were you working with Nicholas?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I am so glad to know that ancient coins are being used as tools to excite young minds to history and possibly collecting! That is so cool! When we discussed this last year, it was great that instead of that coin going to one individual, it be shared among many eager minds!

My Mother was a school Teacher for many years. It was an honor and joy to be a guest to speak about my knowledge in her classrooms as well as my kids classrooms as they were growing up. So fun to help eager minds open up to new ideas. And, frankly I learned a LOT from the kids!!!

 

if you are not familiar with ACE- Ancient Coins for Education, here is the link--

http://ancientcoinsforeducation.org/

 

Yes, thank you.

 

I have been involved as a volunteer with Ancient Coins for Education (ACE) since its inception in 2001. We have distributed - oh, I don't have a solid figure, but literally - tens of thousands of inexpensive LRB's to teachers (elementary through post-graduate) for their students' ancient history units along with a large amount of support information on our website in the 17 academic years since.
We are all older now - none of us were exactly spring chickens when we started - and our operations are winding down a bit as board members resign or join the eternal coin club. I am gratified to find that others have hit on a similar approach to enriching curriculum by placing genuine ancient coins in the hands of the students. It really tends to make the history come alive for many for whom it might be perceived as dry and boring. Quite a few of our students have, in fact, gone on to become collectors in their own right.
If I can be of help in advising you about what has (and what hasn't) worked for us over the years, please feel free to contact me.

 

I love to see coins being shared in an educational setting. It's how I first got interested in ancient coins myself, and my collection began with a gift of a handful of LRBs from a professor. I'd love to be in @Gavin Richardson's class! I am planning to pass on some coins to my Latin professor to use in her middle and high school classes.

 

10-12 in the most recent case. Mature freshman would be capable, I think. Sometimes the kids have found my exact specimens in my forvm gallery!

 

I am familiar with ACE, and will be using their page as a resource. I recall looking into it, but there was another issue which made me decide to go my own way (I don’t recall what that was - probably financing since I can’t afford to buy new coins each year for the kids to keep, and my school would not finance this project). A real shame ACE is winding down, as it is a terrific idea...

 

I am not the owner of Coin Talk or any other online resource but I would have serious problems with anyone who for any reason used my resources for the purpose you describe. Those of us who have been a part of free Internet information for a while (1997 here) have had to fight with academics who tell their students that anything written in a book is good and anything online is trash not to be used. Years ago I received a questionnaire from a student who wanted to quote my site as a reference but was not allowed without establishing such things as from which University my degrees had been conferred and and the names of those who had peer reviewed my material. Now you tell me that there is a professor who believes it is acceptable to post intentional lies and fabrications online to be read by whoever happens upon his drivel and believes it because he is who he is. My first thought here is that he should be crucified but, since he is a medievalist, burning at the stake will have to suffice. Online misinformation is certainly easy enough to find without having 'professors' adding to it to further their own lazy ends. What ever happened to just giving the kid an F and teaching a lesson that did not affect all the other victims of his shenanigans?

I do believe that students could be encouraged to find coins on Coin Talk or other private resources but before telling students to sign up for a membership and use Coin Talk for for homework questions, you should correspond with the owners and get their permission. As it is I am tired of posts from people who have no interest in ancient coins but feel the need to post here for their own reasons. We are here to help each other. We certainly might be expected to aid some people newer than new but it gets old when we are used by those seeking advice on making a killing on eBay and nothing else. Fortunately, these people usually go away in a few days leaving those who actually do want to know about our coins. Coin Talk is a place for peer review, We certainly have a few people here (TIF and Barry come to mind) who answer the rest of our questions but relatively rarely benefit from the return of the favor. We are lucky to have all our active members in their diversity including those who are just starting with the learning and those who realize that the learning never stops.

 

Very well. I included one student write-up in the thread called A CONSTANTINIAN EVENING. I’m awaiting permission to post another; I need to follow up with the student on that. Indeed, FERPA rules are strict on privacy rights. In my assignment, the write-up is principally a supplement to the class presentation, which obviously can’t be replicated here.