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| Israel Numismatic Society | |
|---|---|
| Name | Israel Numismatic Society |
| Formation | 1950s |
| Type | Learned society |
| Headquarters | Jerusalem |
| Region served | Israel |
| Language | Hebrew, English |
| Leader title | President |
Israel Numismatic Society The Israel Numismatic Society is a learned society dedicated to the study, collection, preservation, and dissemination of knowledge about coins, medals, tokens, and related monetary artifacts across ancient, medieval, and modern contexts. It connects researchers, collectors, curators, archaeologists, historians, museum professionals, and bibliophiles to facilitate interdisciplinary study and public engagement through lectures, publications, exhibitions, and collaborative projects with academic and cultural institutions.
Founded in the mid-20th century by collectors, scholars, and museum curators, the Society emerged amid post-World War II cultural institution building that included partnerships with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Israel Museum, and the Israel Antiquities Authority. Early founders included numismatists influenced by the work of Edward Robinson, Flavius Josephus studies, and archaeological surveys linked to excavations at Masada, Qumran, and Caesarea Maritima. The Society's development paralleled major archaeological campaigns led by figures such as Yigael Yadin, Benjamin Mazar, and Amiram Nir, and engaged with international scholarly networks including the American Numismatic Society, the British Museum, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut. Over decades it responded to numismatic discoveries from sites like Sepphoris, Megiddo, Beth Shean, and Herodium, and participated in debates concerning chronology, iconography, and provenance that involved experts associated with the Wissenschaft des Judentums tradition and comparative studies tied to the Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Ottoman Empire, and British Mandate for Palestine periods.
The Society aims to promote numismatic scholarship, conservation standards, and public outreach through collaboration with universities, museums, archives, and archaeological institutes. It fosters research on coin hoards, such as those comparable to finds in Akko and Jaffa, and coordinates with conservation laboratories at institutions like the Israel Antiquities Authority Conservation Department and academic departments at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Society organizes lectures and seminars attracting specialists who have researched topics connected to the Hellenistic Period, Seleucid Empire, Hasmonean dynasty, Herodian dynasty, and monetary systems of the Crusader States and Mamluk Sultanate.
The Society publishes periodicals, monographs, and conference proceedings featuring scholarship on numismatic typology, metrology, metallurgical analysis, and iconographic studies. Contributors have included academics affiliated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University, University of Haifa, and international centers such as the École Biblique, the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Munich. Research topics have ranged from die studies of Judean shekel imitations to metallurgical reports informed by laboratories at the Weizmann Institute of Science and isotope studies comparable to work at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology. The Society's bibliographic work cross-references catalogues from the British Museum Catalogue, the American Numismatic Society Catalogue, and auction records of houses like Sotheby's, Christie's, and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation.
Regular meetings feature lectures by scholars who have worked on archaeological sites such as Bethlehem, Jericho, Gush Etzion, and coastal cities like Ashkelon and Caesarea. The Society curates exhibitions in partnership with the Israel Museum, regional museums including the Lod Mosaic Museum and the Acre (Akko) Museum, and collaborates on traveling exhibits with institutions like the British Museum and the Louvre. Conferences have included thematic symposia on topics connecting to the Roman coinage reforms, the coinage of the Achaemenid Empire, Byzantine numismatics linked to Emperor Justinian I, and Ottoman coinage studies tied to sultans such as Suleiman the Magnificent. Public outreach events often coincide with cultural festivals in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa.
Membership encompasses private collectors, museum curators, academic researchers, students, and professionals from institutions such as the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel Museum, university departments, private galleries, and auction houses. Governance typically includes an elected board with roles analogous to presidents, secretaries, treasurers, and editorial committees, engaging with bodies like the Israel Cultural Heritage Advisory Board and international organizations such as the International Numismatic Council and the European Numismatic Network. The Society maintains liaison with teaching programs at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and curatorial training programs associated with the Israel Museum and international internships with the Smithsonian Institution.
The Society supports cataloguing projects, hoard inventories, and conservation initiatives that interface with collections housed at the Israel Museum, the Eretz Israel Museum, the Hecht Museum, and municipal collections in Beersheba and Ashdod. It has sponsored digitization projects drawing on standards used by the Numismatic Database Project and linked-data initiatives similar to those at the British Museum Department of Coins and Medals. Projects have included typological catalogues of coinage from the Hasmonean dynasty, die-link studies of Herodian coinage, and collaborative surveys of Ottoman-era tokens from port cities such as Jaffa and Haifa Port.
The Society confers awards and prizes to recognize outstanding scholarship, dissertation work, exhibition curation, and conservation excellence, often honoring scholars with ties to institutions like the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the British Museum, the American Numismatic Society, and prominent numismatists whose careers intersected with studies of the Levantine coinage, Mediterranean trade networks, and archaeological finds from sites such as Megiddo and Caesarea Maritima. Recipients have included academics, curators, and archaeologists who contributed to major publications, fieldwork reports, and catalogue production.
Category:Numismatic societies Category:Organizations based in Jerusalem Category:History of currency