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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 2463238, member: 19463&quot;]I apologize for going on topic.&nbsp; About 15 years ago, I got involved with a charitable/educational group called Ancient Coins for Education.&nbsp; They distributed uncleaned coins to Latin and World History teachers for the kids to clean and identify.&nbsp; Where possible, a local collector would visit one day and help with the ID process.&nbsp; In the beginning the coins were free to teachers and paid for by donations from dealers/collectors.&nbsp; Later, they decided to sell a better grade of uncleaned so more kids would leave with a good experience.&nbsp; That ended up driving poor public schools out of the program as had the increasing move to teaching to a State test which meant that the time spent on coins was not spent making the school&#039;s test scores higher.&nbsp; I quit when my last public school dropped out.&nbsp; They also ran essay contests with coin prizes where a teacher could submit the best from the class to be judged by volunteers (like me).&nbsp; First prize was usually a denarius donated for the purpose.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>To prove I am a name dropper:&nbsp; One of my four schools was the Richmond VA private Collegiate School.&nbsp; I worked with a Latin teacher and an 8th Grade History teacher.&nbsp; That was the time that Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks Quarterback) was a student there.&nbsp; I have no idea if he took Latin (more did in that school than any other school in my experience) but if any of you people in your late 20&#039;s went to Collegiate and got interested in ancient coins while there, I&#039;ll claim credit.&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie59" alt=":joyful:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>I really thought ACE was a good idea but it would have worked better when schools were run by the teachers and local administration and not by the testing services.&nbsp; I believe it still operates in some places but I have not had contact for years.&nbsp; Toward the end, I lost a school when a Latin teacher left and was replaced by one who believed that private ownership was a sin so I doubt the idea will ever be what we once hoped.&nbsp; I actually met a few kids who had coins of their own before their teacher did the ACE program and were happy to show them to me.&nbsp; I hope a few of them still care and even more of them will take up the hobby in thirty years when they retire.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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