While not technically buried, employees of the University of Buffalo recently “uncovered” priceless coins hidden in the college library – a treasure that would make any hunter gleeful.
A professor of classics, Phillip Kiernan, had heard a rumor that the library housed some ancient Greek and Roman coins. When he went to investigate, curator of special collections Michael Basinski helped him uncover over 50 priceless coins dating back 2,500 years.
The coins hadn’t been touched in over 40 years, and were in casings over 80 years old.
The collection’s content included:
- A dozen gold coins from the Roman Empire called “aurei” that featured each one of the first 12 emperors of Rome, from Julius Caesar to Domitian.
- 40 silver Greek coins, called “tetradrachm.” One of the coins features the emperor Otho, who ruled Rome for only 3 months and had little time to strike coins.
- 3 gold Greek coins, one featuring the Egyptian Queen Arsinoe.
The university is not interested in selling the coins and thus hasn’t assessed their market value. Coins such as these, however, often go for tens of thousands of dollars each. UB notes that, as cultural artifacts, the coins are priceless.
The coins, which were verified by two coin experts, are in particularly good shape for being so old. That’s because coins were popular in ancient Greece and Rome as a store of wealth and a sign of prestige for aristocrats. These coins never circulated as currency and thus show little wear and tear.
Thomas Lockwood, a prominent Buffalo attorney and book collector, donated the coins to the university’s library in 1935. The coins were then stored away and virtually forgotten until Kiernan became interested in seeing if the rumored treasure actually existed.
Lockwood also donated other coins to the library, including one featuring Queen Elizabeth I and coins from early America.
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