On April 9, Mr. Patrick Curtin’s History students visited the University of Virginia’s Fralin Museum of Art to view the Numismatic Collection of ancient coins, many of which are of Greek and Roman origin.

Following a Roman numismatics’ graduate seminar taught by Professor John Dobbins in the fall of 2007, the Numishare Collection was created in 2008 through UVA’s Scholars’ Lab Library and includes more than 600 coins, most of which are not part of the museum’s public collection.

The visit began with a short lecture about the origins of the collection and the significance of ancient coinage, after which Professor Dobbins and Mr. Curtin worked individually with each student to explain the underlying message of a dozen hand-picked coins.

This field trip is part of a class project that will ultimately conclude with the students creating their own coins, designed in Photoshop, followed by a short presentation on Parent Weekend in which the students will explain the historical significance of their design.

For most of the students, this was the first visit to a college campus. Adding to this experience was the opportunity to meet Professor Dobbins (http://archaeology.virginia.edu/john-dobbins.html).

Mr. Curtin’s students are: Bryce Adkison, Sanjar Abdychev, Tristan Emmanuel, Ben Faulconer, Zymir Faulkner, William Huang, Cole Kennedy, Kevin Li, MarQuis Roberts and Edwin Robinson.