Joel Handshu antiquarian coin collection

Collection includes the original dealer description for each coin, inventories and appraisals, and some notes by Handshu. Most of the documentation consists of the dealer and auction catalogs Handshu selected his coins from and issues of periodicals which provide an overview of the market for coins. Handshu's reference books on coins have been cataloged separately for the Library's collection. The majority of the coins provide a nearly complete collection of portraits of Roman emperors from Augustus through Leo I (27 B.C.-A.D. 474). Approximately 90 emperors are represented, and there are related portraits of wives, sisters, and mothers of emperors (such as Antonia, Faustina, Lucilla and Octacillia Serera) and of well known Romans such as Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony, Agrippa and Germanicus. The second largest group of approximately 40 coins is a representative selection of Greek coins for each century from the 6th through the 2nd century B.C. Most major Greek cities are represented. About 20 coins provide samples of the types issued by Carthage, Judaea, Byzantium and other political entities.