Helen Hughes (1888-1987), Vice-President of the Class of of the Class of 1909 and daughter of the 4th president of Ripon College, Richard Hughes, wrote the first descriptive catalog of the coin collection for her senior thesis. Clark had bought the collection in 1903 from a nobleman in Germany, and encouraged student work on the collection. Hughes deciphered inscriptions and identified the portraiture on over 180 coins. In April 1997, Dr. Simon James, formerly of the British Museum, checked the accuracy of Hughes's catalog, and determined that her work was 90% correct, an amazing accomplishment for an undergraduate! The following catalog relies heavily upon her work. Today, students in Dr. Diane Mockridge's Greek and Roman Society class continue Hughes's legacy by researching specific coins. Their additions to her catalog are noted throughout.

Helen Hughes, 1907 Crimson

The coins in the Clark Collection have been struck, not cast, after the example of the ancient Greeks. This method accounts for the irregular appearance and raised edges of the coins. Student Alexandra Prochnow (class of 2000) explains the process: "First, two punches were made out of bronze, one for the coin's obverse and one for the reverse. An engraver carved the desired design into the punches in intaglio. The obverse punch was placed on a table, and a blank metal flan was placed on top of it. The reverse punch was held above the flan and struck by a mallet to create the coin."

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