Hidden in plain sight, rare coins spend 80 years unseen on college shelf

University at Buffalo faculty member Philip Kiernan heard a rumor back in 2010 and went on a hunt for a collection of rare, ancient and priceless Greek and Roman coins. Not in Greece and not in Italy. The hunt was on his very own campus in New York.

In 1935, benefactor Thomas B. Lockwood donated a collection of rare books, along with a coin collection, to the university. The coins stayed in their casings and sat on a shelf, their true value never realized, at least not until Kiernan recently reexamined them and had experts verify their authenticity.

The university describes the collection as “40 silver Greek coins, three gold Greek coins and a dozen gold Roman coins — one from each era of the first 12 roman emperors, from Julius Caesar to Domitian.” They date from the fifth century B.C. to the first century A.D. Now, Kiernan is turning them into a learning opportunity, creating an entire graduate course to study their history.

An extremely rare gold aureus of the Roman emperor Otho, who reigned for only three months in A.D. 69. Credit: Douglas Levere / University at Buffalo

Reverse (tails) of a silver tetradrachm of Athens, ca. 450 to 400 B.C. Credit: Douglas Levere / University at Buffalo

One of the coins depicts a Roman emperor who reigned for only three months; Otho who was in power in A.D. 69. Some of the Greek coins were minted in the most powerful city-states of the ancient world, from Athens to Corinth. As for how much the coins are worth, Kiernan told the Buffalo Times the market value is unimaginable to him saying, “My job as an archaeologist is to appreciate their historical value and their historical value is absolutely priceless.”