June 6, 2013 – David Hendin, American Numismatic Society adjunct curator, was the recipient of the 2013 Gunnar Holst Numismatic Foundation Medal, awarded at a lecture at the University of Göteborg, Sweden, on May 16, by Bengt Holmen and Yngve Karlsson of the Foundation. The topic of Hendin’s lecture was The Coinage of the Two Jewish Wars.
David Hendin receives Gunnar Holst Numismatic Foundation Medal of 2013 from Yngve Karlsson while Foundation President Bengt Holmén looks on.
The Gunnar Holst Foundation cited Hendin “for many years of comprehensive contributions to numismatics. By virtue of his education as a journalist, Hendin quickly recognized the function of coins as an early means of mass media. His research in numismatics has resulted in hundreds of articles, his lectures and seminars in many countries have been comprehensive. Hendin’s foremost merit is his Guide to Biblical Coins, now its fifth edition. His descriptions of the historical backgrounds to the coins are exemplary. Hendin has been awarded many literary prizes. His 1973 book Death as a Fact of Life was a bestseller; this is evidence of the scope of his personal qualities.”
The citation continued: “Hendin is now adjunct curator at the American Numismatic Society. Hendin is a generous man and he has enriched many collections of coins by means of his working time and through gifts. The Gunnar Holst Foundation for Numismatics conveys to Hendin its wish for many years of continued invaluable numismatic activity.”
Hendin was the twenty-second scholar to receive the medal since was created in 1992. Other recipients have included Carmen Arnold-Biucchi (Harvard University), Mark Blackburn (Cambridge University), Michael Metcalf (Oxford University), Philip Grierson (Cambridge University), Martin Price (British Museum/British School, Athens), Robert Franke (University of Ioannia, Greece), and Henrik Klackenberg (State Herald, Swedish National Archives).
The Gunnar Holst Numismatic Foundation of Göteborg was founded and initially funded in Holst’s honor by Rut and Bengt Holmén, of Göteborg. Holst, who died several years ago at age 97, was a life-long active member of the Göteborg Numismatic Society. He wrote numerous article and booklets. He was an engineer by profession, but after retirement he studied Arabic at the University of Göteborg, and his booklets about Islamic coins from the Caliphate are the best available in Swedish; he was an excellent artist and drew illustrations of the coins and their Arabic texts in his works.
Bengt Holmén was a long-time teacher of history and religion in the schools of Göteborg. He is fondly recalled by his many former students and one of them said she vividly remembers that Holmén sometimes made somersaults over the desks in the classroom to insure that his students remained focused on their studies!
In addition to the annual Medalist Lectures, the Gunnar Holst Foundation for Numismatics has arranged many activities including lectures and seminars by John Kent of the British Museum, Michel Amandry of the Bibliothèque National, and Kenneth Sheedy of Macquarie University, Australia.
You can find information on David Hendin at his ANS profile …
… and on Academia.
Various articles by David Hendin appeared also on CoinsWeekly and you can find them in our Judaea archive section.