Kolbjørn Skaare (6 April 1931 – 3 June 2017) was a Norwegian

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics, numismatics/coins ("of coins"; from Late Latin , genitive of ). Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coi ...

Early and personal life

Skaare was born on 6 April 1931 in

Strinda Municipality Strinda is a former municipality in the old Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality encompassed the eastern part of what is now Trondheim Municipality south and east of ...

(in current

Trondheim Municipality Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populou ...

) to Sevald Skaare and Thora Rogne, and grew up in

Vang Municipality Vang is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vang i Valdres. Other villages in Vang include Hænsgardane, Nystuen, � ...

, where his father was assigned with the agricultural research farm of . He married Marit Olafsdatter Bjørnstad in 1959. He died in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

on 3 June 2017.

Career

After finishing his secondary education at Hamar Cathedral School, Skaare studied history,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Greek language Greek (, ; , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic languages, Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece, Cyprus, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), south ...

at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

. He was assigned with the Coin Cabinet (Myntkabinettet) from 1954, as conservator from 1958. He graduated as dr.philos. in 1976 with the thesis ''Coins and Coinage in Viking-Age Norway'', and was appointed professor in

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

at the University of Oslo in 1985. From 1979 to 1986 he was secretary for the ''Commission internationale de numismatique'', and served as president of the society from 1986 to 1991. He was a fellow of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

, where he also was a board member and served as preses. Among his research results is a re-evaluation of the

chronology Chronology (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , , ; and , ''wikt:-logia, -logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It is also "the deter ...

of Norwegian middle age coins. He contributed to the research publication series ''Nordisk Numismatisk Årsskrift'' and elsewhere, and to popularization through books and newspaper columns. His books include the two-volume ''Norges mynthistorie'' from 1995, ''Pengesedler i Norge'' (1996), ''Bysantinske mynter'' (1998), and ''Fra Ptolemaios den første til Harald den femte. Herskerbilder på mynt'' (1998). He was awarded the

King's Medal of Merit The King's Medal of Merit (Norwegian: ''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business, and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold ...

in gold in 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skaare, Kolbjørn 1931 births 2017 deaths People from Hamar Norwegian numismatists University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Norwegian columnists Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters