Profile: Michael Braunlin

The University of Cincinnati's Michael Braunlin has pursued the lure of ancient coins for over 35 years. Braunlin, who studies copper, bronze, silver and gold coins, has been in love with his hobby since boyhood.

"When I was seven years old I was really into ancient history for some reason," he recalled, "and then I stumbled upon this coin of emperor Maurice Tiberius (582-602) on sale for fifty cents which I still have to this day." From that moment on, Braunlin said he was hooked. "I had originally collected Indian head pennies, but I realized that ancient coins give us such a tangible link to the extended past. They tell us so much about the art, history, and economics of that particular time."

After obtaining a degree in Greek and Latin studies elsewhere, Braunlin came to UC in 1974 as a graduate student. He accepted a position in UC's Classics Library in 1976 and now serves as senior library associate specialist. Throughout his days as a student and professional, he's remained an avid student of Roman and Byzantine coins from the 4th - 15th century A.D.

Braunlin, a resident of Madeira, primarily tries to find historically important coins, because he says it makes it more fun when you have something to learn from the relevance or significance of a particular coin. "I love and collect them because of what they teach us about the past," he enthuses. "For example, the silver coinage of the early Roman Empire has a high silver content, indicating a stable, prosperous economy. However, the corresponding issues of the mid-third century were struck from a very debased alloy, due to the strained resources of an empire that faced catastrophic military and political upheavals," Braunlin said.

Some of his most prized coins include one of the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI (1448-1453), which was struck in the last few weeks of the empire's existence during the final Turkish siege of Constantinople in May 1453. He has also published one of his coins, a half-follis of Anastasius I (491-518), which is the best of only three known examples. Incidentally, the second example of this very rare coin resides in another private Cincinnati collection. The third example is in a museum.

When not tending to his personal collection, he's been a curator since 1983 of a major private collection that will one day be donated to an institution on the east coast. "I basically suggest purchases because he's so busy that he doesn't have time to do it himself," he chuckled. Braunlin also has co-written several articles in the Belgian scholarly journal, "Byzantion," with Dr. John Nesbitt of the Dumbarton Oaks research institute in Washington, D.C. Not only does Braunlin document and photograph all of his coins, but he also has to take extra special care in preserving them. "You have to keep them in a climate controlled environment that's free from moisture," he explained. Of course he takes no chances. "I keep my collection at the bank in a safety deposit box with silica packets inside."

Braunlin holds his oldest piece at right: a silver coin from Lydia dating from between 561-546 B.C. Notice the lion on the left attacking the bull at right.

Whenever Braunlin feels like viewing his collection up close, he'll drive to the bank on a Saturday morning to visit them. "Sometimes I'll bring a few back home just to look at, and other times I'll have an article to write so I have to reacquaint myself with a certain coin or coins."

Out of respect for the archaeological community, which views the illicit trade in antiquities as damaging to archaeological sites, Braunlin prefers to purchase coins from old collections. "I certainly understand the archaeologists' point of view," Braunlin said. "Unique objects should be shared with all through publication and/or being displayed in a museum. But ancient coins exist in the millions, with thousands of duplicates. Many valuable contributions to our understanding of ancient coinage have resulted from the studies of knowledgeable collectors."

Braunlin finds particular coins that he wants through catalogs distributed by established dealers, as well as on the Internet. "Just this week I bought a coin from the 7th century A.D. from an old Italian collection off the Internet," he said.

Braunlin also regularly lectures to others about his knowledge of ancient coins. "High school teachers will call and ask me to come in and talk to their students about coins and ancient history," he said. Braunlin also frequently gives presentations to local clubs as well. In addition, he has taught an introductory ancient numismatics course as part of the orientation survey for new classics graduate students.

As long as there is old money to be found in the world, Braunlin will continue his insightful hobby and share with others all he knows about the coins of the ancient world.