2017 Huntington Award to Roger Bland, "How Coin Finds are Changing the Face of Roman Britain."
Channel: American Numismatic Society
Date: 2017-10-25

The 2017 recipient of the Archer M. Huntington Award, given in recognition of outstanding career contributions to numismatic scholarship, Dr. Roger Bland delivers the Sylvia Mani Hurter Memorial Lecture, entitled, "How coin finds are changing the face of Roman Britain: the contribution of the Portable Antiquities Scheme". The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) was created in England in 1997 to record archaeological material found by members of the public. 

Roger Bland retired in 2015 as Keeper of the Departments of Prehistory & Europe and Portable Antiquities & Treasure at the British Museum. He was formerly a curator in the Department of Coins and Medals and was seconded to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport from 1994 to 2003. Dr. Bland founded the Portable Antiquities Scheme, a project to record all archaeological objects found by the public in England and Wales, and is responsible for the operation of the Treasure Act. He is Visiting Professor at the University of Leicester, Vice President of the Royal Numismatic Society and a Fellow of the MacDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. He was President of the British Numismatic Society from 2011–16.

Dr. Bland completed his Ph.D. on The Coinage of Gordian III from the mints of Antioch and Caesarea at University College London in 1991 and has since published more than 200 books and papers on numismatics. Among the many honors and awards conferred on him are the Royal Numismatic Society Silver Medal in 2014, the French Numismatic Society’s medal in 2013 and the President’s medal of the British Academy in 2016. He was made an Officer of the British Empire in 2009.

“Dr. Bland’s research and published work on Roman Britain and its coin hoards has set new standards for numismatics and archaeologists,” says the Chairman of the Society’s Huntington Committee, Dr. Jere Bacharach. “The committee was particularly impressed by Dr. Bland’s ability to combine outstanding research with a heavy load of administrative work. The quality of his scholarship made him an obvious choice for this prestigious award. All of us in the numismatic community are indebted to him for his numerous contributions to our field of study, and we are delighted to present him with the 2017 Archer M. Huntington Award.”