On Monday, September 21st, 2026, the graduate students in Dr. Elizabeth Comuzzi’s class MVST 5071 Sources, Archives, and Materials for Medievalists had the opportunity to visit the American Numismatic Society (ANS) in Manhattan. Established in 1858, the ANS is one of the oldest museums in New York and boasts an enormous collection of currency and coinage, holding some 750-800,000 coins, with around 50,000 from the medieval era.
Dr. Yoon opens his talk on coins and the scholarly use of coins as historical evidence in the medieval studies.
During their visit to the ANS, Fordham students were able to meet with curator David Yoon, who delivered a presentation on “Coinage as Material Evidence for Human Action in Medieval Latin Europe.” Dr. Yoon elaborated on how medievalists can use medieval coinage for scholarly research where written sources are absent. For example, the early Visigothic kingdoms originally imitated Roman models by portraying the Byzantine emperors on their coins, but they eventually transitioned to engraving only the images of Visigothic rulers. Dr. Yoon suggested that such a change could be linked to the rising assertion of Visigothic kingship as independent of Constantinople. Metallurgical analysis of the coins, too, can give historians insight into a currency’s debasement, a phenomenon which opens the door to even more questions about medieval economies and trade.
Dr. Yoon points out the difference in inscriptions on Byzantine and Visigothic solidi, a common denomination of gold coin in the early middle ages.
At the end of Yoon’s lecture, Dr. Yoon opened the floor for questions, and the students were able to ask about topics ranging from the system of medieval “money of account” to the manufacturing process of the coins themselves. During the Q&A, students also got to examine select coins from the ANS collection, from Roman solidi to late 14th-century Florentine coins and their Aragonese copies.
Students were able to examine examples of the coins mentioned by Dr. Yoon during the following Q & A session.
Unfortunately, the American Numismatic Society is moving their collection to Toledo, Ohio, making this the last year that Fordham students can visit them in New York. However, the ANS has undertaken the task of digitizing their entire collection, parts of which can now be accessed online on their website. The students of Fordham’s Medieval Studies department would like to thank Dr. Yoon and the American Numismatic Society for the fantastic presentation and learning opportunity.
