By Brown Carpenter
NORFOLK
For Sandy Brenner, an antique coin was a page from a history book. His fascination with biblical-era Holy Land currency is clearly obvious on his Web site, where he displayed and explained much of his extensive collection. "Ancient coins provide a window, even if fogged, to a long-ago world," he wrote on his Web site. "To hold one of these coins in your hand is a tangible, tactile and inspiring way to wipe away some of the fog."
Sandy's collection includes money minted by the Hebrews and their conquerors: Babylonians, Persians and Romans. Most of the collection dates from 539 B.C. to 135 A.D.
Those familiar with the New Testament should recognize a couple of posted pieces - the shekel, likely one of the 30 pieces of silver paid to Judas, and the widow's mite, mentioned by Jesus in a parable.
Sandy, a financial analyst at Great Atlantic Management and a resident of Ghent, died March 4 at age 54.
"He took his hobby seriously," his brother Paul said."Some of the coins are worth thousands of dollars. He acquired them on trips to Israel and through coin shops and clubs."He was drawn to numismatics for the aesthetic value. He liked the profiles of the emperors."But he was also drawn to the intellectual side, which could help explain the history of the times. He wrote several magazine articles on the subject."
Sandy was an authority on biblical times and lectured frequently at the Saturday morning Torah study group at Ohef Sholom Temple.He practiced his lessons before his boss, Tom Keefe, at Great Atlantic.
"Now I know how the Book of Kings is connected to Isaiah and David," Keefe said, "and how biblical events relate to the Israeli-Palestine conflict today."
Sandy also organized blood drives, brought together a group of Jews and Christians in support of Israel and participated in 25 Neptune Festival triathlons, despite being overweight.
"He loved the Bible, our history, the land and state of Israel," Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg eulogized at Sandy's funeral. His coins were part of his faith, the eulogy said. "Many a Shabbat, he'd pass around a black, velvet-lined tray with true treasures of our people's history for us to survey, touch and feel."
(757) 446-2283, The Virginian-Pilot
