The Medal of the Royal Numismatic Society was first awarded in 1883. It is awarded by the

Royal Numismatic Society The Royal Numismatic Society (RNS) is a learned society and charity based in London, United Kingdom which promotes research into all branches of numismatics. Its patron was Queen Elizabeth II. Membership Foremost collectors and researchers, bo ...

and is one of the highest markers of recognition given to

numismatists 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 ...

. 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 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 adoptive ...

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 The Royal Numismatic Society (RNS) is a learned society and charity based in London, United Kingdom which promotes research into all branches of numismatics. Its patron was Queen Elizabeth II. Membership Foremost collectors and researchers, bo ...

''. *1883

Charles Roach Smith Charles Roach Smith (20 August 1807 – 2 August 1890), FSA, was an English antiquarian and amateur archaeologist who was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and the London Numismatic Society. He was a founding member of ...

(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 ...

(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 newly ...

(1814-1893) *1887 John Evans (1823-1908) *1888 Friedrich Imhoof-Blumer (1838-1920) *1889

Percy Gardner Percy Gardner, (24 November 184617 July 1937) was an English classical archaeologist and numismatist. He was Disney Professor of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge from 1879 to 1887. He was Lincoln Professor of Classical Archaeology and ...

(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 cent ...

(1817-1903) *1896 Frederic W. Madden (1839-1904) *1897 Alfred von Sallet (1842-1897) *1898

William Greenwell Canon William Greenwell, (23 March 1820 – 27 January 1918) was an English archaeologist and Church of England priest. Early life William Greenwell was born 23 March 1820 at the estate known as Greenwell Ford near Lanchester, County Durham, E ...

(1820-1918) *1899

Ernest Babelon Ernest Charles François Babelon (born 7 November 1854 in Sarrey, Département Haute-Marne; died 3 January 1924 in Paris) was a French Numismatist and classical archaeologist. Education and career Ernest Babelon trained from 1874 to 1878 to be ...

(1854-1924) *1900 Stanley Lane-Poole (1854-1931) *1901 S.E. Baron Wladimir von Tiesenhausen (1825-1902) *1902 Arthur J. Evans (1851-1941) *1903

Gustave Schlumberger Léon Gustave Schlumberger (17 October 1844 – 9 May 1929) was a French historian and numismatist who specialised in the era of the crusades and the Byzantine Empire. His ' (1878–82) is still considered the principal work on the coinage of the c ...

(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 (1844-1914) *1908

Heinrich Dressel Heinrich Dressel (June 16, 1845 in Rome – July 17, 1920 in Teisendorf) was a German archaeologist. He studied under Theodor Mommsen in Berlin, and later received his doctorate from the University of Göttingen with the thesis "''De Isidori Ori ...

(1845-1920) *1909 Herbert A. Grueber (1846-1927) *1910 Friedrich Edler von Kenner (1834-1922) *1911 Oliver Codrington (1837-1921) *1912

Max von Bahrfeldt Max Ferdinand Bahrfeldt (), ennobled as von Bahrfeldt in 1913 (6 February 1856, Willmine, District of Templin, Uckermark – 11 April 1936, Halle an der Saale) was a royal Prussian General of the Infantry, a local historian, and a numismatist of ...

(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. I ...

(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 Berhampur, ...

(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 Con ...

(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 Edward Theodore Newell (1886–1941) was a U.S. numismatist. He served as the president of the American Numismatic Society between 1916 and 1941. He was awarded the medal of the Royal Numismatic Society The Medal of the Royal Numismatic Society ...

(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 history, military historian. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were pioneering. ...

(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 Henry Nelson Wright (1870-1941) was a British civil servant in India and a numismatist, specialising in Indian numismatics. Career Nelson Wright was a member of the Indian Civil Service, but is best known for his work on Indian numismatics. He col ...

(1870-1941) *1933 Kurt Regling *1934 George C. Brooke (posthumously) *1935 Behrendt Pick (1861-1940) *1936 John Allan (1884-1955) *1937 Victor Tourneur *1938 J. Grafton Milne *1939 J.W.E. Pearce *1940 R. B. Whitehead (1879-1967) *1941

Harold Mattingly Harold Mattingly (24 December 1884 – 26 January 1964) was a British classical scholar, specialising in art history and numismatics. His interests included the history of Ancient Rome, Etruscan coins, Etruscan and Roman currency, and the Roman ...

(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 Leonard Forrer or Leonhard Forrer (7 November 1869, Winterthur, Switzerland - 17 November 1953, Bromley, United Kingdom) was a Swiss-born numismatist and coin dealer. He was later naturalised as a British subject.Herbert A. Cahn: ''Leonard Forrer ...

(1869-1953) *1945

Charles Seltman Charles Theodore Seltman PhD (4 August 1886 – 28 June 1957) was an English art historian and writer particularly in the area of numismatics. Charles Seltman was born in Paddington, London, England on 4 August 1886 to Ernest John Seltman and B ...

(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 András (Andreas) Ede Zsigmond Alföldi (27 August 1895 – 12 February 1981) was a Hungarian historian, art historian, epigraphist, numismatist and archaeologist, specializing in the Late Antique period. He was one of the most productive 20th- ...

(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 Philip Grierson, FBA (15 November 1910 – 15 January 2006) was a British historian and numismatist, emeritus professor of numismatics at Cambridge University and a fellow of Gonville and Caius College for over seventy years. During his long an ...

(1910-2006) *1959 Oscar Ulrich-Bansa (1895-1973) *1960 C. Wilson Peck (1914-2004) *1961

Henri Seyrig Henri Arnold Seyrig (; 10 November 1895 – 21 January 1973) was a French archaeologist, numismatist, and historian. He was the general director of antiquities of Syria and Lebanon since 1929, and director, for more than twenty years, of the ...

(1895-1973) *1962 Michael Grant (1914-2004) *1963 Willy Schwabacher *1964 Anne S. Robertson (1910-1997) *1965 Jean Lafaurie *1966 Derek F. Allen (1910-1975) *1967

Margaret Thompson Margaret Catherine Sheila Thompson is a fictional character in the HBO crime drama series '' Boardwalk Empire'', portrayed by Kelly Macdonald. An Irish immigrant living in 1920s Atlantic City, New Jersey, she is the mistress and eventual wife ...

(1911-1992) *1968 Paul Balog 1900-1982) *1969 Christopher Evelyn Blunt (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, cymb ...

*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 Gilbert Kenneth Jenkins (2 July 1918 – 22 May 2005) was a leading figure in 20th-century numismatics. He was the post-war generation's most important expert in the study of Greek coins and medals and would become Keeper of Coins and Medals at the ...

(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 Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

*1982

Otto Mørkholm Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded f ...

*1983

Theodore V. Buttrey Theodore Vern Buttrey Jr. (December 29, 1929 – January 9, 2018) was an American educator, classicist and numismatist. He is perhaps best known for his work discovering and exposing a scheme to distribute fake Western American gold bars. Person ...

(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 Bernard Harold Ian Halley Stewart, Baron Stewartby, (10 August 1935 – 3 March 2018) was a British Conservative Party politician and numismatist. He was the Member of Parliament for Hitchin from February 1974 to 1983, and for North Hertford ...

(1935-2018) *1997 Jørgen Steen Jensen *199
Jean-Baptiste Giard
(1932-2018) *1999 Joseph E. Cribb *2000

Richard Doty Mirage Men is a 2013 documentary film directed by John Lundberg, written by Mark Pilkington and co-directed by Roland Denning and Kypros Kyprianou. ''Mirage Men'' suggests there was conspiracy by the U.S. military to fabricate UFO folklore in o ...

(1942-2013) *2001

Ulla Westermark Ulla Westermark (30 March 1927 - 22 February 2020) was a Swedish numismatist, who was a specialist in Ancient Greek coinage. She was Director of the Stockholm Coin Cabinet from 1979 to 1983 and was recognised with awards for her contributions to ...

(1927-2020) *2002 Nicholas Mayhew *2003 Gert Hatz 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 Peter Spufford, (18 August 1934 – 18 November 2017) was a British historian and academic, specialising in the economics of Medieval Europe. He was Professor Emeritus of European History at the University of Cambridge. Early life and education ...

- ''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 Wolfgang Hahn (April 30, 1911 – January 10, 1998) was a German mathematician who worked on special functions, in particular orthogonal polynomials. He introduced Hahn polynomials, Hahn difference, Hahn q-addition (or Jackson-Hahn-Cigler q-add ...

- ''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 Marion MacCallum Archibald (1935 – 23 April 2016) was a British numismatist, author and for 33-years a curator at the British Museum. She was the first woman to be appointed Assistant Keeper in the Department of Coins and Medals and is regarde ...

(1935-2016) - ''Leaden Pennies'' *2012 Lucia Travaini - ''Coins as Bread. Bread as Coins'' *2013 Michael Alram - ''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 - ''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