Revue numismatique

Revue numismatique
Title	Revue numismatique
Discipline	Numismatics
Language	French
Publisher	Société française de numismatique
Country	France
History	1836–present
Frequency	Annual / Quarterly (varies)

Revue numismatique is a long-established French periodical devoted to the study of coins, medals, and monetary history. Founded in the nineteenth century, the journal has published research spanning ancient, medieval, and modern numismatics, engaging scholars associated with museums, universities, and learned societies across Europe. Its pages have served as a venue for primary publication of coin hoard reports, typological studies, and historiographical debates involving major collections and institutions.

History

The journal was founded in the 1830s in Paris amid intellectual currents linked to the July Monarchy, the development of institutions such as the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the expansion of collections at the Musée du Louvre, and alongside contemporaneous publications like the Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes. Early editors and contributors engaged with themes associated with the recovery of antiquities in the wake of campaigns such as the Napoleonic Wars and the operations of curators from the Musée Numismatique. Throughout the nineteenth century the periodical documented finds connected to excavations in the Roman Forum, the Acropolis of Athens, and colonial contexts involving the Second French Colonial Empire. In the twentieth century contributors included scholars who worked at the Collège de France, École française de Rome, and British Museum, responding to discoveries from sites such as Pompeii, Troy, and medieval hoards from the Battle of Hastings era. The journal adapted through periods including the Franco-Prussian War, the First World War, and the Second World War, while maintaining links to specialist societies like the Société des Antiquaires de France and the International Numismatic Council.

Scope and Content

Revue numismatique covers studies of coinage from classical Greece, the Roman Empire, and Hellenistic kingdoms to Byzantine, Islamic, Carolingian, Anglo-Saxon, and Renaissance issues connected to courts such as Charlemagne, the House of Plantagenet, and the Medici princely states. Articles address coin iconography tied to rulers including Augustus, Hadrian, Constantine the Great, Justinian I, Alfonso X of Castile, and Louis XIV of France, and examine monetary reforms like those of Diocletian, Charlemagne, and Henry VIII. The journal publishes hoard reports referencing finds from the Hoxne Hoard, the Sutton Hoo area, and regional discoveries in Provence, Brittany, and the Iberian Peninsula, as well as studies of minting techniques and dies associated with workshops in Lyon, Milan, and Constantinople. It also engages with numismatic aspects of trade routes such as the Silk Road and maritime networks tied to the Hanseatic League and the Republic of Venice.

Editorial Organization and Publication Details

The periodical is produced under the auspices of the Société française de numismatique with editorial oversight historically linked to curators at the Musée du Louvre and scholars from the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Its editorial board has included professors affiliated with institutions such as the École des hautes études en sciences sociales and the Université de Strasbourg, and cooperating librarians from the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Publication frequency has varied, with issues and supplements sometimes timed to coincide with exhibitions at venues like the Musée d'Orsay or conferences hosted by the International Numismatic Council and the World Archaeological Congress. The journal issues bibliographic notices, critical reviews of books published by houses such as Éditions du CNRS and Oxford University Press, and indexes aligning with catalogues for collections at the British Museum, the Museo Nacional de Antropología, and regional museums in Lille and Marseille.

Notable Contributors and Articles

Over its history the journal has featured contributions by numismatists and antiquarians associated with the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, scholars who later held chairs at the Collège de France and the University of Oxford, and specialists from the British Museum and the Hermitage Museum. Important articles include analyses of coinage attributed to the Seleucid Empire and the Kingdom of Pergamon, catalogues of medieval coinages from the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire, and hoard publications comparing finds to typologies established by researchers such as A. G. F. Ashmole-style antiquaries and later systematicists. Monographs and lengthy studies on subjects like the coinage reform of Diocletian, the imitative issues of the Sassanian Empire, and die studies for late Roman mints have appeared, alongside obituary notices for figures associated with collections at the Musée de Cluny, the Cabinet des Médailles, and national numismatic archives.

Impact and Reception

The journal has been cited in catalogues and monographs produced by the British Academy, the Institut national d'histoire de l'art, and university presses including Cambridge University Press and Brill. Its role in disseminating primary hoard data and typological arguments has influenced museum curation at the Louvre, the British Museum, and provincial institutions in Rouen and Toulouse, and has informed archaeological reports submitted to bodies like the Conseil national de la recherche scientifique-adjacent committees. Reception among scholars of classical antiquity, medieval history, and Islamic studies is reflected in frequent citations in works addressing rulers such as Alexander the Great, Trajan, Abbasid caliphs, and Ferdinand II of Aragon.

Indexing and Availability

Issues are indexed in bibliographies maintained by the Société française de numismatique and recorded in catalogues at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the British Library, and university libraries including Sorbonne University and the University of Cambridge. Back issues and selected articles are available in print in museum libraries at the Louvre and the British Museum and through academic consortia connected to the Réunion des Musées Nationaux and the Centre national de la recherche scientifique. Digital access varies by volume and is facilitated by institutional repositories at the Bibliothèque nationale de France and university digital libraries in Paris and Strasbourg.

Category:Numismatics journals Category:French-language journals Category:Publications established in 1836