College 'rediscovers' collection of rare Greek, Roman coins, some dating to 5th century B.C.

A priceless cache of ancient Greek and Roman coins has been "rediscovered" at the University at Buffalo.

The 40 gold and silver coins — including one from each era of the first 12 Roman emperors — were part of a 1935 donation. But the university said Wednesday that it was only recently that a faculty member realized their worth after finding the coins in a vault.

Faculty member Philip Kiernan says he heard from an alumnus that the UB libraries housed the rare coins and he went looking for them.

He brought in two experts, who confirmed the coins range in date from the fifth century B.C. to the late first century A.D.

Now Kiernan is developing a graduate course to dig in to their history.