Numismatics Collection curator to leave in June

Princeton’s Numismatics Collection, the oldest coin collection of any educational institution in the country, will lose its curator this year. Dr. Alan Stahl has held this role since 2004 and will leave in June.

The future of the curatorial position remains uncertain, according to Stephanie Oster, a spokesperson for the Princeton University Library.

“We are still trying to navigate through what the University is expecting, from a hiring perspective. If we’re able to, we will post the position,” Oster said in an interview with Stahl and The Daily Princetonian.

Numismatics is the study of coins, paper money, tokens, and medals. The University’s collection, started in 1849, is housed in the Library’s Special Collections. Currently, the collection contains 115,000 items, including two notably extensive holdings of Byzantine coinage and early medieval Persian coins.

Stahl’s work was largely focused on the acquisition and online cataloging of these antique items.

“Over the past 20 years that I’ve been here, we’ve gotten about 20,000 coins cataloged and online,” Stahl said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’

Much of the Collection comes from alumni donations, and Stahl also frequently attends auctions to bid on items of interest. Although he has his own budget for purchases, he occasionally obtains external funding from academic departments, especially for rare and costly items.

The process can be long — Stahl recalled that a set of German coins he acquired in December 2024 arrived a year late due to federally imposed tariffs.

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Stahl also described the Collection’s growth since his arrival in 2004.

“The first big thing we got was the Wu collection of Chinese coins sent our way by an alumnus,” he said. “This is a comprehensive [collection] going back from the earliest Chinese coinage up to the 20th century.”

He has notably overseen the acquisition of a large array of Crusader coins and two immense assemblages of Byzantine coins.

“We claim to be the largest collection of Byzantine coinage in the world,” he said.

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Stahl holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Pennsylvania, with a specialization in archaeology and art history. He began working in numismatics at the American Numismatic Society, a private coin museum in New York City.

“Luckily, from my time at the Numismatic Society, I picked up a certain knowledge of Greek coins, Roman coins, Islamic coins, Chinese coins, and all the major things we deal with in our collection,” Stahl said.

In 2010, Stahl received the Royal Numismatic Society medal for his book, “Zecca: The Mint of Venice in the Middle Ages.”

As curator, one of Stahl’s primary goals was to meet regularly with students. For 22 years, he has met with two dozen different classes and precepts, often focusing on Greek, Roman, East Asian, Near Eastern, and art history.

Stahl himself was a lecturer in the Departments of Art and Archaeology, Classics, and History, and taught courses on medieval history, including Italian city-states, international commerce, and medieval democracy.

Associate Professor of History and Hellenic Studies Jack Tannous GS ’10 has often brought his students to see the Collection and consult with Stahl.

“[Stahl] has a marvelous way of bringing the importance of coins to life, and the students can look at and handle coins from many centuries ago — they can actually touch objects from our period, which is amazing,” Tannous wrote to the ‘Prince.’

Other faculty members emphasized Stahl’s impact on historical studies as a whole at Princeton. Associate Professor of History and Hellenic Studies Teresa Shawcross wrote to the ‘Prince’ that Stahl’s “commitment to making the scientific discipline of numismatics accessible” inspires students to understand “complex ideas.”

“Professor Stahl’s approachability and enthusiasm lead many of these students to return to the Collection to intern with the curators, catalogue holdings, and conduct research,” Shawcross added.

Professor of Classics Harriet Flower also praised Stahl’s ability to make numismatics accessible.

“[Stahl] is a true scholar who can explain the world of ancient coins to students at every level,” she wrote to the ‘Prince.’

After leaving Princeton, Stahl plans to “continue to balance numismatics with history.” He recently published a book about the history of a 14th-century family in Venice and hopes to pursue further research on the city.

“We are all deeply grateful for all the many contributions [Stahl] has made to the teaching of numismatics at Princeton over many years. He will be sorely missed,” Flower said.

Spokespeople for the Departments of Classics and History did not provide comments in time for publication.

Clara Docherty is the assistant News editor for the ‘Prince’ leading faculty, graduate students, and alumni coverage. She is from Lafayette, N.J., and can be reached at clara.docherty[at]princeton.edu.

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