Description
A piece of numismatic history
Ancient Coins of Cities and Princes, Geographically Arranged and Described
by John Yonge Akerman
Covering Spain, Gaul and Britain
London, 1846
Refer to photos for condition.
About the author
Akerman, John Yonge (1806-1873)
Numismatist and antiquary, born in London on 12 June 1806. In 1834, Akerman was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. In 1848 he became joint secretary with Sir Henry Ellis and five years later, sole secretary until 1860. In 1836, he started, chiefly at his own expense, the ‘Numismatic Journal‘, two volumes of which appeared under his editorship. He helped to establish the Numismatic Society of London, which subsequently became The Royal Numismatic society. It held its first regular meeting on 22 Dec. 1836. Akerman was secretary until 1860, and editor of the society’s journal, first published in 1838 as the ‘Numismatic Chronicle‘. Akerman died 18 Nov. 1873.
His contributions to numismatic and antiquarian literature consist largely of papers published in the ‘Numismatic Journal’ and ‘Chronicle’, and in the pages of ‘Archaeologia’.
His numismatic books were:
- ‘Numismatic Manual‘, London, 1832 (and London, 1840);
- ‘Descriptive Catalogue of Rare and Unedited Roman Coins‘, 2 vols., London, 1834;
- ‘Coins of the Romans relating to Britain‘, London, 1836 (enlarged edition in 1842, and again in 1844);
- ‘Ancient Coins of Cities and Princes,’ London, 1846;
- ‘Numismatic Illustrations of the New Testament‘, London, 1846;
- ‘Introduction to the Study of Ancient and Modern Coins‘, London, 1848.
Though Akerman’s contributions to numismatics are in great part obsolete, he did good work in his day, especially in popularising the study of coins in England; and the Numismatic Society and its journal continue to prosper.
[Based on a biography in Proceedings of the Numismatic Society of London for 1874, published in the Numismatic Chronicle, vol. xiv. (new series), pp.13-19.]