Matthew Raper (1705–1778) was a British astronomer, mathematician, and scholar in various fields. He published papers on diverse subjects, including

ancient Greek coinage The history of ancient Greek coinage can be divided (along with most other Greek art forms) into four periods: the Archaic, the Classical, the Hellenistic and the Roman. The Archaic period extends from the introduction of coinage to the Greek ...

and Roman currency, as well as their measures and their history from Greek and Latin texts. Raper was elected to the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

on 30 May 1754 and was awarded the Copley Medal in 1771 for a paper "Inquiry into the Value of the ancient Greek and Roman Money." He translated ''Dissertation on the Gipseys'' from Heinrich Grellman's German original and wrote diverse papers such as "An Enquiry into the Measure of the Roman Foot" (1760) and "Observations on the Moon's Eclipse, March 17., and the Sun's Eclipse, April 1, 1764." Matthew Raper's father was also named Matthew and left him the Manor of

Thorley, Hertfordshire __NOTOC__ Thorley is a village and civil parish in East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Thorley Street, Thorley Wash and Old Thorley, and is bordered at the north by the market town of Bishop ...

, upon his death in 1748. Raper had an observatory on the roof of the manor house; upon his death in 1778, the manorial rights passed to his brother John Raper.

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*https://web.archive.org/web/20110928211921/http://www.stortfordhistory.co.uk/thorley/thorley_1.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Raper, Matthew 1705 births 1778 deaths 18th-century British mathematicians 18th-century British astronomers British numismatists Fellows of the Royal Society Recipients of the Copley Medal