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

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist in numismatics ("of coins"; from Late Latin ''numismatis'', genitive of ''numisma''). Numismatists include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholars who use coins and other currency in object-based research. Altho ...

Early and personal life

Skaare was born on 6 April 1931 in

Strinda 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 the municipality of Trondheim south and ea ...

(in current

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

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

Vang, Hedmark Vang is a former municipality in the old Hedmark county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1992 when it became part of Hamar Municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was at Fredvang. This sit ...

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

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

on 3 June 2017.

Career

After finishing his secondary education at

Hamar Cathedral School Hamar katedralskole ( en, Hamar Cathedral School) is an upper secondary school in Hamar, Norway. History Founded in 1153 as Schola cathedralis hamarensis, it is the second oldest school in Norway together with Bergen katedralskole and Oslo katedr ...

, Skaare studied history,

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

Greek language Greek ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southern Al ...

at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

. 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 includ ...

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 ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, 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 Univer ...

, 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 ''chronologia'', from Ancient Greek , ''chrónos'', "time"; and , '' -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. I ...

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 University of Oslo faculty Norwegian columnists Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters