Stage 2 · Grades 7–12
World History & AP World
DBQ practice with objects instead of paragraphs
A coin is a state-issued document that circulated in millions of copies. Students treat it as a document-based-question source: who issued it, to whom, with what claim, and how do we know when. No prior Latin or Greek is required.
4 assignments · fits one imperial or Hellenistic unit
What students learn to do
- Sourcing: identify issuing authority, mint, and audience of an object.
- Contextualization: place a coin in a reign, a war, or a monetary reform.
- Corroboration: compare the coin's claim with the narrative in a textbook.
- Read imagery as propaganda: personifications, trophies, temples, deified rulers.
Assignments in this track
| Task type | What the student produces |
|---|---|
| Blind attribution | Identify authority, mint and denomination from the object. |
| Essay | DBQ paragraph: what claim does this coin make, and for whom? |
| Curation project | Build a five-coin exhibit on one theme (war, piety, succession). |
The material behind the track
128862 records available today. The full catalog: Greek, Roman Republican and Imperial, Byzantine.
A coin from this track
RIC I (second edition) Nero 1 — Nero, Rome
Obverse legend: AGRIPP AVG DIVI CL AVD NERONIS CAES MATER
Nero and Agrippina — dynastic legitimacy on a single flan.
Standards alignment
- AP World History: Analyzing Historical Evidence (sourcing, contextualization).
- C3 Framework D2.His.10.9-12, D3.1.9-12 (gather and evaluate sources).
- Common Core RH.6-8.1–2, RH.9-10.2.
Alignments are our reading of the published frameworks, offered so you can start from something rather than nothing. Districts should map them against their own scope and sequence.
Free lesson plans for this track
- Coins as Evidence: A DBQ Without a Document — one 50-minute class period