A numismatist is a specialist, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics/coins ("of coins"; from Late Latin numismatis, genitive of numisma). Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coins (and possibly, other currency) in object-based research. [1] Although use of the term numismatics was first recorded in English in 1799, [2] people had been collecting and studying coins long before then all over the world. (The branch of numismatics that deals with the study and collection of paper currency and banknotes by notaphilists is called Notaphily)
This group chiefly may derive pleasure from the simple ownership of monetary devices and studying these coins as private amateur scholars. In the classical field, amateur collector studies have achieved quite remarkable progress in the field. Examples include Walter Breen, a noted numismatist who was not an avid collector, and King Farouk I of Egypt, an avid collector [3] who had very little interest in numismatics. Harry Bass by comparison was a noted collector who was also a numismatist.
In this group are the coin dealers. Often called professional numismatists, they authenticate or grade coins for commercial purposes. The buying and selling of coin collections by numismatists who are professional dealers advance the study of money, and expert numismatists are consulted by historians, museum curators, and archaeologists. See, for example, the International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN) and the British Numismatic Trade Association (BNTA).
In this group are scholar numismatists working in public collections, universities or as independent scholars acquiring knowledge about monetary devices, their systems, their economy and their historical context. [4] Coins are especially relevant as a source in the pre-modern period.
There are very few academic institutions around the world that offer formal training in numismatics. Some may offer numismatics as part of a course in classical studies, ancient history, history or archaeology. Scholar numismatists may focus on numismatics at the postgraduate level, where the training is more research-based. As a result, most scholar numismatists will approach numismatics from within another academic discipline (e.g. history, archaeology, ancient or modern languages, metal sciences), perhaps after attending a numismatic summer school, usually based where there is an excellent coin collection. Recognition of scholarly numismatic expertise may be in the form of a postgraduate qualification, and/or in the form of a medal awarded by a numismatic society: for example, the Medal of the Royal Numismatic Society, which may be awarded to scholar numismatists of any nationality.
Donald H. Kagin [5] earned the first PhD in Numismatics granted in the United States in 1979. [6]
Numismatic institutes
Numismatic summer schools
As scholar numismatists work on coins (and related objects) within their particular area of interest (e.g. a particular part of the world, a particular period of history, or a particular culture), they are often known in those fields, as well as in numismatics. Biographical resources relating specifically to numismatists include the following:
The International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN), founded in 1951, is a non-profit organisation of the leading international numismatic firms. The objects of the association are the development of a healthy and prosperous numismatic trade conducted according to the highest standards of business ethics and commercial practice.
The Chester L. Krause Memorial Distinguished Service Award is the highest honor conferred by the American Numismatic Association. The award was formerly named after Farran Zerbe, a one-time president of the American Numismatic Association. It is given in recognition of numerous years of outstanding, dedicated service to numismatics. The criteria for the nominee should be that the individual is considered someone who has rendered numerous years of outstanding service to the ANA as well as the field of numismatics. An additional qualification is that the nominee should be a former Medal of Merit and Glenn Smedley Memorial Award recipient. The award is limited only to members of the ANA.
Francesco Gnecchi was an Italian painter and numismatist.
Ernest Charles François Babelon was a French numismatist and classical archaeologist.
Agnes Baldwin Brett was an American numismatist and archaeologist who worked as the Curator at the American Numismatic Society from 1910 to 1913. She was the first paid curator at the American Numismatic Society. She made important contributions to the study of ancient coinage, medals, and sculpture, whose work was used by later archaeologists. Brett was also a visiting lecturer of archaeology at Columbia University in 1936.
Michel Amandry is a French numismatist.
The International Numismatic Congress (INC) is the largest international conference for numismatists. It is organised every six years by the International Numismatic Council. Since the 7th INC in Copenhagen, the conference has also marked the launch of the Survey of Numismatic Literature, in which specialist numismatists review research and publications since the previous Congress. A special medal is created for each Congress. The Congress has, from the 6th INC in Rome forward, met at six-year intervals with the only slight disturbances being that the 10th INC in London convened seven years after the previous Congress and saw a slightly shortened span of five years following the London INC; and the 16th INC in Warsaw similarly convened seven years after the previous Congress due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a projected span of five years to the proceeding Frankfurt INC.
Robert Anthony "Tony" Merson (1950–2016) was a British numismatist and philatelist, with a particular interest in the coins of medieval France.
Elvira Eliza Clain-Stefanelli was a numismatist, director of the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution, and advisor to the US Mint.
Numismatic associations bring together groups of numismatists. They may be commercial, hobby or professional. Membership is sometimes by election.
Lyce Jankowski is a numismatist, specialising in East Asia, and an art historian, specialising in Chinese material culture.
Johan van Heesch is a Belgian numismatist specialising in the coinage and monetary history of the Roman empire. He is the Keeper of Coins and Medals at the Royal Library of Belgium, and teaches numismatics at the universities of Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve.
The Jeton de vermeil is an award recognising scholarly achievement in numismatics. It is awarded by the Société française de numismatique annually to a foreign (non-French) numismatic scholar, and every three years to the outgoing president of the society. It was formerly known as the Médaille de vermeil. It is a widely recognised award for numismatics.
William E. Metcalf, FSA is an American numismatist, ancient historian, and former curator, who is an expert in the study of Roman coins. He is especially known for his pioneering work on Roman provincial coins and particularly the Roman cistophori of Asia Minor.
Maria Radnoti-Alföldi was a Hungarian-German archaeologist and numismatist specialising in the Roman period. She is known for her research into the analysis of the distribution of coin finds, Roman history, and the self-depiction of the Roman emperors.
Ulla Westermark was a Swedish numismatist, who was a specialist in Ancient Greek coinage. She was Director of the Stockholm Coin Cabinet from 1979 to 1983 and was recognised with awards for her contributions to numismatics from the Royal Numismatic Society, the American Numismatic Society, the International Monetary History Society and the Swedish Numismatic Society.
The Société française de numismatique is a French learned society working in the field of numismatics. It is a member of the International Numismatic Council.
Susanne Börner (*1980) is a German archaeologist and numismatist.
