British Numismatic Society

British Numismatic Society
source
Name	British Numismatic Society
Formation	1903
Type	Learned society
Headquarters	London
Region served	United Kingdom
Membership	Numismatists, collectors, academics
Leader title	President

British Numismatic Society

The British Numismatic Society is a learned society founded in 1903 dedicated to the study of coins, medals, tokens and related material culture, with close ties to institutions such as the British Museum, the Royal Society, the British Academy, the Society of Antiquaries of London and the Royal Numismatic Society. It has hosted collaborations and exchanges with organizations including the Burlington Magazine, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, the National Museum of Scotland and the Fitzwilliam Museum. Its membership historically included scholars linked to universities like University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University College London, King's College London, University of Edinburgh and University of Glasgow.

History

The Society emerged in the same milieu as the founding of the British Museum's coin cabinets, the consolidation of collections at the Society of Antiquaries of London and the growth of numismatic study exemplified by figures associated with the Royal Numismatic Society and the Numismatic Chronicle. Early officers and contributors had connections with collectors and curators at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, the British Academy and the Bodleian Library. During the interwar years members included academics linked to the British School at Rome, the Warburg Institute, the Institute of Archaeology (UCL) and the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. In the postwar era the Society developed relationships with provincial institutions such as the York Museums Trust, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, the Manchester Museum, the National Museum of Wales and the Hunterian Museum. Notable intersections involved personalities associated with the Royal Society, the British Library, the Victoria History of the Counties of England and the Cambridge University Press publishing network.

Purpose and Activities

The Society promotes research and dissemination of numismatic knowledge through lectures, conferences and field collaboration with bodies like the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum, the National Museums Liverpool and the Historic England archive. It organizes meetings featuring specialists who have worked with collections at the Bodleian Library, the Keele University coin cabinets, the University of Leicester archaeology department, the Oxford Archaeology group and the Portable Antiquities Scheme. The Society has provided frameworks for study comparable to those used by the Royal Society, the British Academy, the Society of Antiquaries of London and the Royal Institution in structuring academic exchanges and public outreach. Collaborative projects have intersected with excavation teams from the British School at Athens, the Institute of Archaeology (UCL), the University of York and the National Museum of Scotland.

Publications

The Society publishes a peer-reviewed journal and monographs that appear alongside works in the tradition of the Numismatic Chronicle, the Burlington Magazine, the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society and the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Contributors have included scholars affiliated with University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University College London, King's College London, University of Edinburgh and University of Glasgow. Its publications have been cited in catalogues produced by the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum, the Bodleian Library and the British Library. The Society's monographs sit alongside series from the British Academy, the Cambridge University Press, the Oxford University Press and specialist publishers used by the Royal Numismatic Society and the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.

Membership and Governance

Membership draws from professionals connected to the British Museum, curators from the Victoria and Albert Museum, academics at University College London, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and regional museum staff at the National Museum of Scotland, the National Museum of Wales and the Manchester Museum. Governance follows a trustee-like model similar to boards at the Royal Society and the British Academy with elected officers who have served in roles at the Society of Antiquaries of London, the Royal Numismatic Society, the Royal Institution and university departments such as the Institute of Archaeology (UCL), the School of Oriental and African Studies and the Warburg Institute. The Society liaises with funding and heritage bodies including Historic England, the Arts Council England and national academic funders.

Awards and Lectures

The Society sponsors medals, prizes and named lectures comparable to awards administered by the Royal Numismatic Society, the Society of Antiquaries of London, the British Academy and the Royal Society. Its lecture programme has welcomed speakers with affiliations to the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University College London and the Institute of Archaeology (UCL). Prize winners and lecturers have also come from institutions such as the National Museum of Scotland, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Bodleian Library and the British Library, and have collaborated with editorial projects at the Numismatic Chronicle, the Burlington Magazine and the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society.

Category:Learned societies of the United Kingdom Category:Numismatic societies