Ancient Coins for Education (ACE) Programs are among some of the most innovative in the K-12 educational field.
Sandbox Archeology - Perhaps the most imaginative of ACE's programs is its archeological simulation. Teachers are given a supply of genuine low-grade ancient coins to bury in a sandbox or other appropriate container or location. In addition, teachers get a full set of lesson plans for this, along with tips on how to enliven the project further by including other "ancient artifacts" for students to dig up and attribute. Some of these "artifacts" include bones, potsherds, flint chips, and charcoal, which can be adapted from modern elements when the genuine ancient bits are unavailable. The teachers also get instructions on how to use gravel, sand, and various soil types to simulate layers of substrate.
According to Ancient Coins for Education's "Archeological Simulation" lesson plans written by Cathy Scaife, the students perform many of the steps that are executed on a real archeological dig, including measuring and marking off sections, careful digging, sifting the excavated dirt through sieves, careful cataloguing of the finds, and researching the finds after the dig is over. Suggested student roles include diggers, sievers, recorders, sketchers, researchers, security guards, and curators (to reassemble broken artifacts.)
This project really sounds like a lot of fun, for the teacher and the students! I wish we'd had things like this when I was in school, but I'm thrilled that kids today have such resources, thanks to organizations like ACE! The lesson plans for this great project can be found on the Ancient Coins for Education Archeological Simulation web pages.
Ancient Coin Museums - Another innovative ACE program is the Ancient Coin Museum project. Originally intended to be a single Museum that would travel to various schools, the project proved so popular that every school wants one of their own! Once again, the students do the work, mentored by a teacher who is following the guidelines provided by Ancient Coins for Education. The intellectual reach of this project goes way beyond the coins themselves, however. Students use the coin they are provided as a "window into history," and the Museum is the end result of research into things ancillary to the coin itself. For example, some of the Museum displays have themes like, "Alexander the Great and His Followers," "Ancient Mythology," and "Royal Imperial Headgear". The students then act as docents, explaining their projects to the museum's visitors.
Excellent lesson plans are available for many of the Museum variations that teachers have created on the Ancient Coins for Education TSR (Teacher Supplied Resources) pages.
Ancient Coins for Education Core Program - ACE's core program, which was its original service, and which is still an integral part of its mission, is providing uncleaned ancient coins for students to clean, attribute, study, and keep.
Many coin collectors like to hold a coin in their hand, especially a really old one, and imagine who might have used that coin, and what they bought with it, and such. Well, take that same notion and apply it to a coin that circulated in Ancient Rome, during the time of the early Christian Church; a time characterized by gladiators and a pantheon of gods and goddesses who ruled every aspect of life. Imagine the Roman citizen who might have held the coin minted in 312 AD, following Constantine the Great's seminal vision of a cross in the sky, which led to the recognition of Christianity as a valid State religion.
Ancient Coins: A Window to History - Ancient coins can open a window to history that is incomparable to textbooks and whiteboards and lectures. Each ancient coin was struck individually, by hand, and as such, is truly a work of art in your pocket. Even so, Constantine the Great and his successors minted small bronze coins by the tens of millions, (some say hundreds of millions,) so they are readily and fairly cheaply available today. Can you think of any greater way to bring Classical Studies alive for young people, than to let them hold, and own, an ancient coin of their own?
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