More than loose change
Carus coin collection illustrates money history
Katherine Poythress
Issue date: 10/11/07 Section: News
When students pay $5 for a cup of coffee at Jitters, chances are they are not thinking of the exchange as part of a tradition that stretches back thousands of years.
Hillsdale's Alwin C. Carus Coin Collection, donated to the college two years ago by the late Alwin Carus of La Salle, Ill., is a striking visual reminder of the history of money since the days of swapping sheep and goats.
One of the older coins in the collection comes from Thrace, circa fourth century B.C., and features the head of Pan (the licentious god of fields and flocks) on one side and the head of a bull on the opposite side. According to the Carus Coin Collection database, available online, this coin is often called the "Devil Coin" because our concept of the devil was inspired by the look of Pan, a human torso with the legs and horns of a goat.
The collection is composed of approximately 800 pieces of both coin and paper currency.
A portion of it is now on display, for the first time, in a custom-made showcase in the Heritage Room, completed last month by local cabinetmaker Scott Caulkins.
Carus began the collection in 1930 at the age of 29 when on a trip he learned of the extraordinary impact hyperinflation had on the German economy in the 1920s. This experience inspired Carus' interest in the history of coinage and its relation to individual nations and their social and political atmospheres. He continued to collect currency for the rest of his life, picking up interesting pieces in his diverse travels.
Shortly after Carus' death in November 2004, the collection arrived at the college in bags, most of the pieces untagged and unidentified. Some pieces in the collection date back as far as the fourth century B.C., and the total value of the coin collection is somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000, said Dan Knoch, Carus coin collection committee chairman.
Knoch said the collection came with a contract stipulating the college make it available for educational purposes through permanent and travel displays, loan and an online database.
Hillsdale's Alwin C. Carus Coin Collection, donated to the college two years ago by the late Alwin Carus of La Salle, Ill., is a striking visual reminder of the history of money since the days of swapping sheep and goats.
One of the older coins in the collection comes from Thrace, circa fourth century B.C., and features the head of Pan (the licentious god of fields and flocks) on one side and the head of a bull on the opposite side. According to the Carus Coin Collection database, available online, this coin is often called the "Devil Coin" because our concept of the devil was inspired by the look of Pan, a human torso with the legs and horns of a goat.
The collection is composed of approximately 800 pieces of both coin and paper currency.
A portion of it is now on display, for the first time, in a custom-made showcase in the Heritage Room, completed last month by local cabinetmaker Scott Caulkins.
Carus began the collection in 1930 at the age of 29 when on a trip he learned of the extraordinary impact hyperinflation had on the German economy in the 1920s. This experience inspired Carus' interest in the history of coinage and its relation to individual nations and their social and political atmospheres. He continued to collect currency for the rest of his life, picking up interesting pieces in his diverse travels.
Shortly after Carus' death in November 2004, the collection arrived at the college in bags, most of the pieces untagged and unidentified. Some pieces in the collection date back as far as the fourth century B.C., and the total value of the coin collection is somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000, said Dan Knoch, Carus coin collection committee chairman.
Knoch said the collection came with a contract stipulating the college make it available for educational purposes through permanent and travel displays, loan and an online database.
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