Leonard Forrer

Leonard Forrer , also Leonhard Forrer , (born November 7, 1869 in Winterthur , † November 17, 1953 in Bromley, Kent ) was a Swiss-British coin dealer and numismatist .

In 1887 he came to England as a student, where he had worked for the London art trading company Spink & Son from 1889 and soon headed their coin department and made the company one of the most important coin trading firms in the world. Since 1893 he published the Numismatic Circular .

In addition to numerous other publications and coin catalogs, the eight-volume biographical index of all known coin and gem cutters , medalists and mint masters from ancient times to 1900 is still of great importance today.

His son Leonard Steyning Forrer (1895–1968) was also active in the coin trade.

Publications (selection)

• Biographical dictionary of medallists, coin-, gem-, and seal-engravers, mint-masters, etc. ancient and modern. With references to their works, BC 500 - AD 1900. London 1902-1930. 6 volumes.
  • Volume 1, (A – D), 1904 (University of Michigan)
  • Volume 2, (E-H), 1907  - Internet Archive
  • Volume 3, (I-Maz), 1907  - Internet Archive
  • Volume 4, (MB-Q), 1909  - Internet Archive
  • Volume 5, (R-S), 1912  - Internet Archive
  • Volume 6, (T-Z), 1916  - Internet Archive
  • Supplement: Biographical notices of medallists ... London 1924–1930. 2 volumes.
    • Reprint of all 8 volumes: London 1979–1981, ISBN 90-70296-02-0 , ISBN 90-70296-03-9 .
    • JS Martin: Index to Leonard Forrer's Biographical Dictionary of Medallists . London 1987.

literature

• Herbert A. Cahn : Leonard Forrer senior † . In: Schweizer Münzblätter 4, 1954, pp. 71–72 ( digitized version ).