Martin Allen, FSA, is a British

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics, numismatics/coins ("of coins"; from Late Latin , genitive of ). Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coi ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, specialising in medieval English coinage. Allen is the Senior Assistant Keeper of Numismatics at the

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Education and career

Martin Allen earned his Ph.D. at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, with a thesis in

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

, focusing on the Durham mint. He joined the Department of Coins and Medals at the Fitzwilliam Museum in 1997, where he looked after the Corpus of Early Medieval Coin Finds (EMC). He is affiliated with Wolfson College, where he serves as lecturer in the Faculty of History, teaching numismatics and medieval monetary history; he also serves as a College Research Associate. He has an extensive publication record, for which he was awarded a Doctor of Letters (LittD) in 2013. Allen is the Vice President of the British Numismatic Society and editor of the '' British Numismatic Journal''. Currently he has the role of President of the

Royal Numismatic Society The Royal Numismatic Society (RNS) is a learned society and charity based in London, United Kingdom which promotes research into all branches of numismatics. Its patron was Queen Elizabeth II. Membership Foremost collectors and researchers, bo ...

Awards and honours

Allen received the Sanford Saltus Gold Medal of the

British Numismatic Society The British Numismatic Society exists to promote the study and understanding of British numismatics. The Society was founded in 1903, focusing on all forms of coinage, tokens, banknotes and medals relating to the British Isles and former parts ...

in 2011. In addition, he has also received the North Book Prize of the British Numismatic Society twice, once in 2006 for ''The Durham Mint''. and again in 2014 for ''Mints and Money in Medieval England''.

Selected works

Allen has published several works in the field of numismatology, focusing especially on

England in the Middle Ages England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the Middle Ages, medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early modern Britain, early modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the co ...

. His works include the following:

Books

* ''The Durham Mint'', British Numismatic Society Special Publication 4 (London, 2003) *
Mints and Money in Medieval England
' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012) *
Money and its Use in Medieval Europe Three Decades On. Essays in Honour of Professor Peter Spufford
', edited with N. Mayhew, Royal Numismatic Society Special Publication 52 (London, 2017)

Articles

* "The Calais mint and the wool trade", in M. Allen and N. Mayhew (eds), ''Money and its Use in Medieval Europe Three Decades On. Essays in Honour of Professor Peter Spufford'', Royal Numismatic Society Special Publication 52 (London, 2017), pp. 31−42. * "Medieval merchants and the English mints", in M. Allen and M. Davies (eds), ''Medieval Merchants and Money. Essays in Honour of James L. Bolton'' (London: Institute of Historical Research, 2016), pp. 197−212. * "A thirteenth-century enquiry into the administration of the Bury St Edmunds mint", ''British Numismatic Journal'' 80 (2010), pp. 189–93. * "Monthly mint output figures for the coinage of Richard III", Numismatic Chronicle 169 (2009), pp. 213–15. * "The proportions of the denominations in English mint outputs, 1351–1485", ''British Numismatic Journal'' 77 (2007), pp. 190–209. * "The Cambridge mint after the Norman Conquest", ''Numismatic Chronicle'' 166 (2006), pp. 237–44. * "The English currency and the commercialization of England before the Black Death", in ''Medieval Money Matters'', edited by D. Wood (Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2004), pp. 31–50. * "English coin hoards, 1158–1544", ''British Numismatic Journal'' 72 (2002), pp. 24–84. * "Ecclesiastical mints in thirteenth-century England", in ''Thirteenth Century England VIII: Proceedings of the Durham Conference 1999'', edited by M. Prestwich, R. Britnell and R. Frame (Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer, 2001), pp. 113–22. * "The volume of the English currency, 1158–1470", ''Economic History Review'', 2nd series, 54 (2001), pp. 595–611. * "The volume and composition of the English silver currency, 1279–1351", ''British Numismatic Journal'' 70 (2000), pp. 38–44. * "Documentary evidence for the Henry VI Annulet coinage of York", ''British Numismatic Journal'' 65 (1995), pp. 120–34. * "The Durham mint before Boldon Book", in D. Rollason, M. Harvey and M. Prestwich (eds), ''Anglo-Norman Durham, 1093–1193'' (Woodbridge, 1994), pp. 381–98. * "The provision and use of Short Cross class V dies", ''British Numismatic Journal'' 59 (1989), pp. 46–76. * "The Carlisle and Durham mints in the Short Cross period", ''British Numismatic Journal'' 49 (1979), pp. 42–55.

References

External links

Fitzwilliam Museum staff page

Martin Allen, Money and Medals Network

Martin Allen, Digital Library Numis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Martin British numismatists British historians British archaeologists People associated with the Fitzwilliam Museum Fellows of Wolfson College, Cambridge Living people Alumni of Durham University Year of birth missing (living people) Presidents of the Royal Numismatic Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London