Collection of Roman Coins to Yale

The Yale University Art Gallery announces that they have aqcuired a large collection of Roman coins from a German numismatic. “This collection, formed over a lifetime by one of Europe’s most eminent numismatic scholars, will significantly enhance Yale’s holdings of ancient coins and medals, already one of the largest of any university collection in the country.” The collection was formed over a period of forty years by Peter R. Franke, formerly Professor of Ancient History and Numismatics and head of the Institute for Ancient History at the University of Saarbrücken, Germany. Franke was mentor to many of the numismatists on staff at various collections throughout Europe, and taught until recently at the Institut für Numismatik in Vienna. He is well-known as the author of a number of specialized monographs as well as introductory treatments of coinage. Although it covers the entire Mediterranean basin, the principal focus of the collection on Greek coins of the Roman period, which were produced at individual cities to meet local currency needs. “I am delighted that my collection has been acquired by Yale,” said Professor Franke, “since I know that there the coins will be employed for teaching as well as research, and my work will be continued.”

William E. Metcalf, who was appointed the first curator of coins and medals at the Yale Art Gallery in 2002 as well as adjunct professor of Classics, remarked, “Franke did not collect just to fill gaps in his holdings, every coin has a reason for being there. For the art historian, there are continuous streams of imperial portraits from various regions of the Roman Empire; for the historian there is evidence of local cults and magistrates, as well as representations of local buildings and such customs as games and religious festivals.”
Good for Yale! It is to be hoped that pictures of some of this can be made visible on the web, like the webpage Ancient Roman and Greek Coins by Warren Esty. See also his Some Educational Websites about Ancient Coins. Further info about ancient coins can be found at e.g. these pages: Ancient Greek & Roman Coins . (Im no expert on this, but there is a lot of pages made by and for collectors out there on the web!).
An interesting example of how ancient coins may illuminate our knowledge about a particular region is this page on Life in ancient Greece reflected in the coinage of Corinth.