The American Numismatic Society (ANS) has announced Dr. Nathan T. Elkins will be joining the ANS full time as Deputy Director, effective on June 1, 2022. Currently Associate Professor of Art History (Greek and Roman) at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, Dr. Elkins has been at the ANS as Visiting Research Scholar since August 2021.
Dr. Elkins brings to the role of ANS Deputy Director a record of organizational, managerial, and policy experience, as well as a long-term commitment to numismatic research and a history of support to the ANS community. Dr. Elkins has directed the Allbritton Art Institute at Baylor University since 2020. He previously directed the university’s Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Achievement program from 2018 to 2020. He served on numerous university committees at Baylor, including the Faculty Senate and its Executive Committee, and he has been on a number of other academic boards and committees nationally.
He initially joined the ANS as a member in 2003 and, after twelve years of active membership and substantial contributions to numismatic scholarship, he was elected a Fellow of the Society in 2015. In addition, he was elected a Fellow of the prestigious Society of Antiquaries of London in 2020. He has been a guest lecturer at the Eric P. Newman Graduate Summer Seminar in Numismatics on several occasions and he was a student at the Summer Seminar in 2004. Dr. Elkins has also served the ANS as co-editor of the American Journal of Numismatics, the Society’s annual peer-reviewed research journal, since 2018.
A prominent scholar of Roman coinage, Dr. Elkins’ work examines the political and communicative significance of numismatic imagery in the broader context of art, architecture, literature, and social history.
Among Dr. Elkins’ books are Monuments in Miniature: Architecture on Roman Coinage (ANS Numismatic Studies 29, 2015), The Image of Political Power in the Reign of Nerva, AD 96–98 (Oxford University Press, 2017), and A Monument to Dynasty and Death: The Story of Rome’s Colosseum and the Emperors Who Built It (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019). He is now working on a book on the significance of Libertas (Liberty) on Roman coinage. Active in archaeological fieldwork, he is currently the staff numismatist at the Huqoq Excavation Project in Israel and the ‘Ayn Gharandal Archaeological Project in Jordan.
“I am a firm believer in the work of the ANS,” Dr. Elkins noted, “which has long been an international leader in numismatic research and innovation. I am grateful for the opportunity to join the amazing line of professionals among the ANS staff, and look forward to collaborating with the Executive Director to advance and strengthen the Society’s mission and vision. “Executive Director Gilles Bransbourg said, “Nathan Elkins is an incredible addition to the team at the ANS. Bringing him into the permanent staff means we can focus further together on developing organizational strategies and growing our programs in a way that we have aspired to but now have more hands available to bring to fruition. He has been giving his time and energies to the ANS for many years and few people are as deeply familiar with our field of study as Nathan is.”
For further information about the American Numismatic Society, please visit their website.
To learn more about Dr. Elkin’s activities in numismatics, have a look at his entry in our Numismatists’ Who’who of Numismatics.
