Martin Jessop Price (27 March 1939 – 28 April 1995) was a British
numismatist who was made a Merit Deputy Keeper of the
British Museum in 1978, a corresponding member of the
German Archaeological Institute and was a visiting fellow at the
Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, 1986-87. In 1992 he was awarded the
medal of the Royal Numismatic Society. He was educated at
King's School, Canterbury and
Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...
, where he graduated with a firsts in
classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
. In 1961, he won a Greek government scholarship which introduced him to the
British School of Athens.
In 1966, he was appointed Assistant Keeper in the
Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum, under
Kenneth Jenkins, and was eventually appointed Deputy Keeper in 1978 which is a position he held until September 1994 when he became Director at the
British School of Athens until his death.
Personal life
Martin had a lifelong connection with Greece and was fluent in modern Greek. He would eventually meet his wife in 1965 and have two sons and a daughter. He was described as an inspiration to his colleagues who would often throw himself into projects that had little reward but were necessary.
Notable Work
* Coins of the Macedonians
* The Seven Wonders of The Ancient World
* Coinage in the Greek World
* Coins and their cities: Architecture on the ancient coins of Greece, Rome, and Palestine
* The coinage in the name of Alexander the Great and Philip Arrhidaeus: a British Museum catalogue
References
1939 births
1995 deaths
British numismatists
Directors of the British School at Athens
Employees of the British Museum
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