Hybrid lecture by Dr. Benjamin Hellings, Head of the Department of Numismatics, Yale University Art Gallery

In-person location: Herter Hall 601, UMass Amherst. For Zoom attendance, register here: https://tinyurl.com/y8dbuncy

Large and active numismatic collections are far and few between: in the United States, there are only a handful of actively managed ones, with most being housed in a university. Yale University’s Numismatic Collection is preeminent and is unquestionably the largest University collection in the country. Although there are many numismatists and specialists of the ancient world who study coins, numismatic curators who work in the United States are much fewer in number. This presentation will explore the history of the Yale Numismatic Collection, including coins from the Dura-Europos excavations, as well as the historic and present curation of the collection, including the management of physical storage, coin identification, publications, acquisitions and donations, exhibitions, and teaching. A behind-the-scenes overview of the first and only permanent numismatics gallery at an American university, which opened in May 2022, will also be presented.

This lecture is free and open to all! The William E. Metcalf Lecture in Numismatics is sponsored by the Western Massachusetts Society of the Archaeological Institute of America and hosted by the UMass Amherst Department of Classics.