The Medal of the Royal Numismatic Society was first awarded in 1883. It is awarded by the Royal Numismatic Society and is one of the highest markers of recognition given to numismatists. The President and Council award the Medal annually to an "individual highly distinguished for services to Numismatic Science". In recent years the Medallist has been invited to receive the medal in person and to give a lecture, usually at the Society's December Meeting.

Sir John Evans Sir John Evans (17 November 1823 – 31 May 1908) was an English archaeologist and geologist. Biography John Evans, son of the Rev. A. B. Evans, was born at Britwell Court, Buckinghamshire. At the age of seventeen he started to work for the p ...

gave the dies for the original silver medal to the Society in 1883. The current medal was commissioned from

Ian Rank-Broadley Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS (born 1952) is a British sculptor who has produced many acclaimed works, among which are several designs for British coinage and the memorial statue of Princess Diana at Kensington Palace in London unveiled on her 60th ...

in 1993 and is a cast silver medal with the classical theme of

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

and the Nemean lion. The Society commissioned Robert Elderton to create a new medal in 2020-21

List of Medallists

Recipients of the Medal of the Royal Numismatic Society and their lecture titles (where available) are given below.
Further details about the individual medallists and their contributions to the field of numismatics can be found in the '' Numismatic Chronicle''. *1883 Charles Roach Smith (1807-1890) *1884

Aquilla Smith Aquilla Smith (28 April 1806 – 23 March 1890) was a highly regarded medical doctor, numismatist and archaeologist. He represented the Irish College of Physicians on the General Medical Council for almost forty years, and was an authority on I ...

(1806-1890) *1885 Edward Thomas (1813-1886) *1886

Alexander Cunningham Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham (23 January 1814 – 28 November 1893) was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Engineer Group who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newl ...

(1814-1893) *1887 John Evans (1823-1908) *1888 Friedrich Imhoof-Blumer (1838-1920) *1889 Percy Gardner (1846-1937) *1890 Jan Pieter Six (1824-1899) *1891 C. Ludwig Müller (1809-1891) *1892 R. Stuart Poole (1832-1895) *1893 W.H. Waddington (1826-1894) *1894

Charles Francis Keary Charles Francis Keary (1848 – 25 October 1917) was an English scholar and historian. His later work as a novelist influenced the modernist writer James Joyce. However, the English novelist George Gissing read four of Keary's works, including t ...

(1848-1917) *1895

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th centur ...

(1817-1903) *1896 Frederic W. Madden (1839-1904) *1897 Alfred von Sallet (1842-1897) *1898 William Greenwell (1820-1918) *1899 Ernest Babelon (1854-1924) *1900

Stanley Lane-Poole Stanley Edward Lane-Poole (18 December 1854 – 29 December 1931) was a British orientalist and archaeologist. Poole was from a famous orientalist family as his paternal grandmother Sophia Lane Poole, uncle Reginald Stuart Poole and great-uncle ...

(1854-1931) *1901 S.E. Baron Wladimir von Tiesenhausen (1825-1902) *1902 Arthur J. Evans (1851-1941) *1903 Gustave Schlumberger (1844-1929) *1904 His Majesty Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy (1869-1947) *1905 Sir Hermann Weber (1823-1918) *1906

Francesco Gnecchi Francesco Gnecchi (8 September 1847, Milan – 15 June 1919, Rome) was an Italian painter and numismatist. Biography Born into a wealthy family in the silk trade, the artist initially studied law at the University of Pavia before enlisting as a v ...

(1847-1919) *1907

Barclay V. Head Barclay Vincent Head (1844–1914) was a British numismatist and keeper of the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum.

(1844-1914) *1908 Heinrich Dressel (1845-1920) *1909 Herbert A. Grueber (1846-1927) *1910 Friedrich Edler von Kenner (1834-1922) *1911 Oliver Codrington (1837-1921) *1912 Max von Bahrfeldt (1856-1936) *1913

George Macdonald George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll ...

(1862-1940) *1914 Jean N. Svoronos (1863-1922) *1915

George Francis Hill Sir George Francis Hill, KCB, FBA (22 December 1867 – 18 October 1948) was the director and principal librarian of the British Museum (1931–1936). He was a specialist in Renaissance medals. Early years George Hill was born in Berhampu ...

(1867-1948) *1916

Théodore Reinach Théodore Reinach (3 July 186028 October 1928) was a French archaeologist, mathematician, lawyer, papyrologist, philologist, epigrapher, historian, numismatist, musicologist, professor, and politician. Academic career Educated at the Lycée Co ...

(1860-1928) *1917 L.A. Lawrence (1857-1949) *1918 ''Not awarded'' *1919 Adrien Blanchet (1866-1957) *1920 H.B. Earle-Fox and J.S. Shirley-Fox *1921 Percy H. Webb *1922 Frederick A. Walters *1923 J.W. Kubitschek (1858-1936) *1924 Henry Symonds *1925 Edward T. Newell (1886-1941) *1926 R.W. Maclachlan *1927 Adolphe Dieudonné *1928 Sir

Charles Oman Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman, (12 January 1860 – 23 June 1946) was a British military historian. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were pioneering. Occasionally his ...

(1860-1946) *1929 Jules Maurice *1930 Edward A. Sydenham *1931

Helen Farquhar Helen Laura Farquhar (1859 – 1953) was a British numismatist and a founder member of the British Numismatic Society in 1903. Farquhar served on the British Numismatic Society Council many times from 1910-1946 and was Vice-President at various ...

(1859-1953) *1932 H. Nelson Wright (1870-1941) *1933

Kurt Regling Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and is ...

*1934 George C. Brooke (posthumously) *1935 Behrendt Pick (1861-1940) *1936 John Allan (1884-1955) *1937

Victor Tourneur The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French sho ...

*1938 J. Grafton Milne *1939 J.W.E. Pearce *1940 R. B. Whitehead (1879-1967) *1941 Harold Mattingly (1884-1964) *1942 E.S.G. Robinson (1887-1976) *1943

Agnes Baldwin Brett Agnes Baldwin Brett (née Baldwin, 1876–1955) 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 ...

(1876-1955) *1944 Leonard Forrer (1869-1953) *1945 Charles Seltman (1886-1957) *1946 Georg Galster *1947 Eduard von Zambaur *1948 Jocelyn M.C. Toynbee (1897-1985) *1949 Sydney P. Noe (1885-1969) *1950 Karl Pink *1951 H.L. Rabino (posthumously) *1952 Lodovico Laffranchi *1953 Andreas Alföldi (1895-1981) *1954 C. Humphrey V. Sutherland (1908-1986) *1955 A.R. Bellinger *1956 John Walker (1900-1964) *1957 George C. Miles *1958 Philip Grierson (1910-2006) *1959 Oscar Ulrich-Bansa (1895-1973) *1960 C. Wilson Peck (1914-2004) *1961 Henri Seyrig (1895-1973) *1962 Michael Grant (1914-2004) *1963 Willy Schwabacher *1964 Anne S. Robertson (1910-1997) *1965

Jean Lafaurie Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

*1966 Derek F. Allen (1910-1975) *1967 Margaret Thompson (1911-1992) *1968 Paul Balog 1900-1982) *1969

Christopher Evelyn Blunt Christopher Evelyn Blunt, (16 July 1904 – 20 November 1987) was a British merchant banker and numismatist. Life Blunt was born in London, the second son of the Reverend Arthur Stanley Vaughan Blunt and of Hilda Violet Blunt, ''née'' Master ...

(1904-1987) *1970

Pierre Bastien Pierre Bastien (born 1953 in Paris) is a French musician, composer, and experimental musical instrument builder. Life and career Bastien began building mechanical-based musical instruments at an early age, using items such as metronomes, cymbals ...

*1971 Herbert A. Cahn (1915-2002) *1972 Robert A.G. Carson (1918-2006) *1973 H. Enno van Gelder *1974 George Le Rider *1975 G. Kenneth Jenkins (1918-2005) *1976 J.-B. Colbert de Beaulieu *1977 P. Lal Gupta (1914-2001) *1978 Colin M. Kraay (1918-1982) *1979 Peter Berghaus *1980 Patrick Bruun *1981 Michael Dolley *1982 Otto Mørkholm *1983 Theodore V. Buttrey (1929-2018) *1984 Michael H. Crawford *1985 Paul Naster *1986 Brita Malmer (1925-2013) *1987 D. Michael Metcalf (1933-2018) *1988 Peter R. Franke *1989 Leandre Villaronga *1990 John P.C. Kent (1928-2000) *1991 Eric P. Newman (1911-2017) *1992 Martin J. Price (1939-1995) *1993

Andrew Burnett Andrew Michael Burnett, (born 23 May 1952) is a British numismatist and museum curator, who specialises in Roman coins. He was Deputy Director of the British Museum from 2003 to 2013, and Keeper of its Department of Coins and Medals from 1992 to ...

*1994

Cécile Morrisson Cécile Morrisson (born 16 June 1940) is a French historian and numismatist. She is Director of Research emeritus at the French National Center for Scientific Research and specializes in the study of the Byzantine Empire. Biography Cécile Morr ...

*1995 Maria Alföldi *1996 Lord Stewartby (1935-2018) *1997 Jørgen Steen Jensen *199
Jean-Baptiste Giard
(1932-2018) *1999 Joseph E. Cribb *2000 Richard Doty (1942-2013) *2001 Ulla Westermark (1927-2020) *2002

Nicholas Mayhew Nicholas Julian Mayhew (Nick Mayhew) is Emeritus Professor of Numismatics and Monetary History, at the Ashmolean Museum, specialising in British and European medieval monetary history and numismatics. He was formerly Deputy Director (Collections ...

*2003

Gert Hatz Vera Hatz (1923 - 2010) was a German numismatist, who specialised in medieval European coinage, in particular that of the tenth and eleventh centuries in northern Europe. She was jointly awarded the Royal Numismatic Society Medal, as well as the ...

and Vera Hatz *2004

Michel Amandry Michel Amandry (born in 1949) is a French numismatist. Career Michel Amandry, the son of the archaeologist Pierre Amandry, studied in Strasbourg and Paris, where in 1979 he received his doctorate at the Sorbonne. From 1991 to September 2013 he ...

*2005 Peter Spufford - ''The Mints of Medieval Europe'' *2006 François Thierry - ''The Identification of the Nguyen Thong coins in the monetary law of the sixth year of Canh Hung (Vietnam 1745)'' *2007 Wolfgang Hahn - ''Christian symbolism on Aksumite coins – the typological concept and composition'' *2008 Mark Blackburn (1953-2011) - ''Interpreting single-finds in a bullion economy: the case of dirhams in Viking-Age Scandinavia'' *2009 Richard Reece - ''What are Coin Finds?'' *2010 Alan Stahl - ''Learning from the Zecca: the Medieval Mint of Venice as a Model for Pre-modern Minting'' *2011 Marion Archibald (1935-2016) - ''Leaden Pennies'' *2012 Lucia Travaini - ''Coins as Bread. Bread as Coins'' *2013

Michael Alram Michael Alram (born 1956) is an Austrian historian and a numismatist. He obtained his doctorate in the University of Vienna in 1982, in Ancient Numismatics and Classical Archaeology. He has been Director of the Vienna Coin Cabinet at the Kunsthis ...

- ''From Bactria to Gandhara: Coins and Peoples across the Hindu Kush'' *2014

Roger Bland Roger Farrant Bland, (born 3 April 1955) is a British curator and numismatist. At the British Museum, he served as Keeper of the Department of Portable Antiquities and Treasure from 2005 to 2013, Keeper of the Department of Prehistory and Europ ...

- ''What Happened to Gold Coinage in the 3rd Century AD?'' *2015 Bernd Kluge - ''Pound Sterling, English Coins and English Numismatics from a Continental Perspective'' *2016

Pere Pau Ripollès Alegre Pere Pau Ripollès Alegre (born 1953) is a Spanish archaeologist and numismatist. Career Ripollès studied at the University of Valencia for a first degree in history and geography (1978) and a PhD in archaeology. His thesis was titled “La c ...

- ''The Iberian Coinages, 6th- 1st century BC'' *2017

Lutz Ilisch Lutz is a surname and given name, occasionally a short form of Ludwig. People with the name include: Surname *Adolfo Lutz (1855–1940), Brazilian physician *Aleda E. Lutz (1915–1944), American Army flight nurse *Alois Lutz, Austrian figure s ...

- ''European silver exports to Syria and a Crusader-Ayyubid condominial mint'' *2018

Johan van Heesch 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- ...

- ''A new representation of the Antwerp mint (AD 1625)'' *2019 Sam Moorhead *2020 Keith Rutter *2021

François de Callataÿ François de Callataÿ (born 1961) is a Belgian ancient historian, professor at the École pratique des hautes études (Paris/Sorbonne), who has written significant studies of coinage and finance in the ancient Mediterranean world. Life and caree ...

References

{{reflist Lists of award winners Medals Numismatics Numismatic associations Awards established in 1883 Awards for numismatics Royal Numismatic Society