In 2020, Carole Anne Menzi Collier established the Collier Prize in Ancient Numismatics at the American Numismatic Society, a new award offered for the first time in 2021. The Prize is named after her late husband Professor James M. Collier and commemorates the life of a remarkable man, an ardent lover of the history and culture of Europe and the Ancient world, and a passionate collector of ancient Greek and Roman coins. A feature on the life of Prof. Collier was published in ANS Magazine 2020, vol. 4.
This substantial monetary prize is to be awarded every third year to the best single or multi-authored book, catalogue, or online digital work in the field of ancient numismatics (650 BCE to 300 CE). The winner(s) receive prize money of $20,000, to be split equally in the event of a multi-authored work. For the initial prize, eligible publications were limited to those works published in 2019 or 2020. A jury of five senior numismatists appointed by the President of the ANS reviewed the nine works submitted this year for the contest and, after a protracted period of study and discussion, selected the winner of the 2021 Collier Prize.
Winner of the 2021 Collier Prize
At the Annual Meeting held on 23rd October 2021, the winner was announced: Richard Abdy’s Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC) vol.II.3 on the coinage of the Emperor Hadrian from AD 117 to 138 (Spink, 2020). Abdy has worked at the British Museum since 1993 and since 1998 has been a curator of Roman coins in the Department of Coins and Medals. Aside from his award-winning RIC volume, Abdy has published widely on Roman coinage and has long been involved in recording Roman coin hoards in England. An award ceremony for Abdy will be announced in the coming months.
“We are certainly thrilled to bestow the first Collier Prize on Abdy’s exceptional study of Hadrian’s coinage,” ANS Executive Director Gilles Bransbourg said, “and at the same time extend our gratitude to Carole Anne Menzi Collier for establishing what will no doubt become one of the most important Prizes in our field.”
On the ANS’s website you can find all details for the Collier Prize in Ancient Numismatics.
For further information, visit the website of the ANS.
Read our Who’s Who entry on Richard Abdy.
