William Turner (1792 - 1867), a British diplomat of the early 19th century, authored in 1820 his interesting and opinionated Journal of a Tour in the Levant, describing his adventures in the area. Throughout his travels, Turner was always keen to ask for what the Greeks called "medals," "any coin of ancient origin," as well as engraved seals. At Turner’s death in 1867 this collection remained within the family, passing to his son, Mansfield Turner (d.1901), and through the latter’s daughter to William Turner’s great grandson, with whom it remained until 1987. It is with great pleasure that we are able to present coins of this fascinating provenance along with brief excerpts from Turner’s Journal. Thus we present the lands of classical civilization as observed through the eyes of a numismatist during the Napoleonic era.