Royal Numismatic Society

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The Royal Numismatic Society ( RNS ) is one of the world's oldest numismatics associations .

history

In 1836 the Numismatic Society of London , dedicated to promoting numismatic knowledge, was founded. The number rose from 21 founding members to 132 in the following year, to which seven foreign corresponding members were added. The periodical The Numismatic Journal was also created in 1836 , initially in the private publishing house of John Yonge Akerman , who was a member of the board , renamed The Numismatic Chronicle in 1838 and from 1839 an organ of the society and included in the membership fee for a surcharge. In 1858 the Nuimismatic Chronicle was officially taken over by the company. In the early years, the focus was on British numismatics. In addition to the publication activity, the activities included monthly meetings in London with lectures and an association's own library.

In 1874 the British archaeologist John Evans became president; he held this office until his death in 1908. In 1883 an annual medal of honor, the Medal of the Royal Numismatic Society , was donated to stimulate research . After the entire volume of the Numismatic Chronicle was devoted to an investigation into King Henry V in 1902 , tensions arose which led to the split of the British Numismatic Society , which is explicitly devoted to research into the coins of Great Britain. Already in 1887 it was considered to be under royal patronage, but this was not pursued for reasons of cost. In 1904 this was completed, however, and the Society obtained a royal patent and changed its name to "Royal Numismatic Society". At that time it had 290 members. The first royal member was the Italian King Vittorio Emmanuele III , who was interested in numismatics .

In the first half of the 20th century, numismatics changed from an antiquarian to a methodical science intertwined with other branches of knowledge, which also had an impact on the publications of the Royal Numismatic Society. The Chronicle became more international during this period. The Medal of Merit was first awarded to a woman in 1931. For the 100th anniversary, an International Numismatic Congress took place in London, which took up an initiative last implemented in Brussels in 1910 for continuous international cooperation, but which initially came to a standstill due to the circumstances after 1936. The Second World War also meant a turning point for the Royal Numismatic Society, as some of the members had been drafted into the military and regular quarters were not available for meetings in London. The membership decreased to 206 in 1944.

After the war there was a collaboration with the British Numismatic Society . In 1949 the library was able to move to the Warburg Institute affiliated to the University of London , where the lectures also take place. In 1953 a prize for young scientists with a maximum age of 21 was launched and awarded in 1954 to the future President David Michael Metcalf . In 1947 the publication activity was expanded by the creation of the monographic series “Special Publications”, which was then able to publish a volume for the first time in 1956. In 1953, the publishing company Sylloge of the Coins of the British Isles was started together with the British Numismatic Society , and in 1975 the series "Coin Hoards", which intended to make unpublished treasure discoveries accessible. The latter was given up again as an independent series after five volumes and incorporated into the Numismatic Chronicle . Despite its international claim, the magazine's focus is on ancient and oriental numismatics. In recent years, contributions in French and German have also been included. Internationalization is also expressed in membership, which is generally open. Of the 1000 members in 1981, more than half lived outside the UK. Joint conferences were also held in England and France with the Société Française de Numismatique .

President

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