Today's students can study those rulers and their achievements through the Ned H. and Gloria A. Griner Greek and Roman Coin Collection in Ball State's Museum of Art.

Chris Shea, professor of modern languages and classics, is among the Ball State faculty members using the ancient coins to bring the past alive for her students.

"Coins are the kinds of ancient objects people can connect with because they are still common in our society," she said. "When you look at the coins you can imagine the variety of people who once held them."

Ned Griner, professor emeritus of art, began the collection with the specific purpose of donating the 153 coins to Ball State. His wife, Gloria, is a former music education professor.

"I felt the collection would be of value to the university as study and research material for students," Griner said. "Through the coins, students have an opportunity to learn a great deal about ancient history and ancient culture."

Shea said the coins honor names and faces that would otherwise be lost to history.

"In ancient times, coins were advertisements for the rulers," she said. "You could pick up a coin, just as Jesus did in the New Testament, and know what the emperor looked like."

Nancy Huth, curator of education for the Museum of Art, said the Griner collection is an asset few institutions of Ball State's size can equal.

"From the museum's standpoint, collecting ancient art, especially sculpture, is difficult because most of it is out of our reach financially," Huth said. "The coins are sculptures in miniature, and show the developments of ancient portraiture, sculpture and architecture."

The collection's contribution to Ball State is highlighted by a recently published catalog. The Museum of Art called on ancient coin expert Wayne G. Sayles to place the coins in their historical context. Sayles is founder and former editor of The Celator, a monthly periodical for collectors of ancient coins and artifacts.

Sayles discusses the figures or structures represented, the symbolism of animals and other motifs, and the cities or regions that minted the coins. A copy of the catalog is mounted near the collection inside the museum.

For Ball State students, the Griner collection provides a trip to the past without leaving the Muncie campus.

"Ancient coins act as a newspaper of their day," Shea said. "They can preserve a moment out of time."

(Note to Editors: For more information about this story, contact Nancy Huth at (765) 285-5242 or nhuth@bsu.edu.)