Richard Abdy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard Anthony Abdy (born 1970)[1] is a British numismatist at the British Museum, specialising in Roman coins.
Abdy graduated in 1992 from the University of Glasgow with a degree in History. His area of expertise is Britain in Roman times and its border fortifications, known as the Limes Britannicus. He worked on coin finds on the Antonine Wall[2] at the Hunter Coin Collection at the University of Glasgow Hunterian Collection.[3] [4]
He joined the staff of the British Museum in 1993, as an assistant in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities. In 1998 he became one of the two curators of Iron Age and Roman Empire coins in the Department of Coins and Medals. His responsibilities included processing coin hoards acquired or offered for sale by the Treasure Act 1996[5]
Awards and honours
- 2002 Lhotka Memorial Prize for Romano-British Coin Hoards
- 2010 Gilljam-Prize for his article “The Domitian coin from Chalgrove: a Gallic emperor returns to history“ about the second Antoninian coin of Domitianus II (the discovery of which confirmed the authenticity of the first coin and the existence of the anti-emperor Domitianus II).
- 2013 Lhotka Memorial Prize for Coins and the Bible (co-authored with Amelia Dowler)
- 2022 The inaugural Collier Prize in Ancient Numismatics for RIC II.3 – From AD 117–138: Hadrian [6]
- 2024 BBC History Magazine Best Books of the Year for Legion – Life in the Roman Army [7]
Exhibitions at the British Museum
- 2004 Public Image: Portraits on Coins & Medals
- 2013 Coins and the Bible (co-curated with Amelia Dowler)
- 2024 Legion: Life in the Roman Army
