• Philip T. Ashton

Richard P. Miller

Biography, Richard P. Miller

Richard Miller acquired his first Roman coin at age 14, when taking Latin as a high school freshman in Michigan. It was an AVF sesterce of Maximinus I, of whom he had never heard. With the help of Zander Klawans’ little green book, he was on the way to deciphering Roman coin inscriptions and to see how Maximinus fit into Roman history. He purchased Gibbons’ Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, one volume at a time as lawn-mowing income permitted. His interest grew apace, and at Wesleyan University he was a 1964 honors graduate in Classical Languages. This was followed 15 years later by a master’s degree in Latin at Wayne State University in Detroit. After Wesleyan he married his high school sweetheart, Janet Braeuninger, with whom he will celebrate 50 years of marriage in June. They have two daughters and five young grandchildren, all close by in Michigan. Richard worked for years on daily newspapers in Connecticut and Michigan, ending as publisher of The Daily Tribune in Oakland County. The newspaper was sold in 1978. He then joined the regional investment firm First of Michigan, where after several assignments, including qualified plans manager, he was named corporate vice-president and director of the firm’s 31 branches in Michigan and Indiana. After his retirement, he became an adjunct instructor at Wayne State, where he taught Classics, Latin and ancient civilization. Along the way, Richard became interested in ancient Greek silver coinage, then specifically Hellenistic silver with the mentoring of Arthur Houghton. Richard has published articles, hoards, die studies and tabular information in the American Journal of Numismatics, Schweizer Münzblätter, the Swiss Numismatic Review, Coin Hoards X: Greek Hoards, co-published by the ANS and the Royal Numismatic Society, and Seleucid Coins II, vol. 2. Richard acquired much of his Greek coinage collection from Harlan J. Berk Ltd., and is especially pleased to have Harlan in charge of auctioning it. Proceeds will go to the college funds of his grandchildren.