Jesuit Connoisseurs and Collectors of Ancient Coins before Joseph Eckhel

Abstract As early as 1635, Jesuit Claude Clément (1596–1642) recognized coins as “minted historical sources” and an essential complement to the library. However, it was not until the latter half of the seventeenth century that Jesuits became prominent members of the “Republic of Medals,” the European network of coin and medal connoisseurs and collectors. This article aims to explore the varied contributions of Jesuits to numismatics up to the mid-eighteenth century. Among the first prominent figures were the French Jesuits Louis Jobert (1637–1719), a collector of ancient coins and author of the bestseller La science des médailles (The science of medals), and Jean Hardouin (1646–1729), a controversial scholar who employed ancient coins to to study historical chronology. In the eighteenth century, the most significant numismatic works were produced by Viennese Jesuits: Erasmus Frölich (1700–58), Joseph Khell von Khellburg (1714–72), and later, Joseph Eckhel (1737–98). Preceding them, the Jesuits of Graz published Synopsis rei nummariae veterum (Synopsis of the monetary system of the ancients; 1724), a unique numismatic textbook written in hexameter. Jesuits also maintained substantial institutional and private collections, particularly within their colleges.