Alberto Fortis and the advancement of numismatics in the late 18th century

Alberto Fortis, a Paduan “naturalist-antiquarian” of the late Enlightenment,played a significant role in the development of numismaticsas an evidence-based discipline in the last quarter ofthe 18th century. Fortis knew about ancient and medieval coinsand believed that coin finds were significant historical markers.He noted various coin finds during his travels in Dalmatia. Thesefindings suggested to the readers of his most important book,Viaggio in Dalmazia, that Dalmatia had a long and distinguishedhistory of monetary use. Fortis was also one of the first scholarswho recorded coins of Issa, Pharos, Scodra, and Corcyra whilehe was in Dalmatia. His interest in the issues of the Greek andIllyrian mints of the eastern Adriatic region is attested by a seriesof letters written over a 20-year period beginning in the early 1770s. These letters reveal that from the early 1780s to the early1790s Fortis acquired coins from southern Italy on behalf of thePaduan Marquis T. degli Obizzi, and that he also asked his friendsJ. Bajamonti, R. A. Michieli Vitturi, and M. Sorkočević to send himcoins from Dalmatia. Fortis’ direct observations and commentson the coins of Issa, Pharos, Scodra, and Corcyra, which he communicatedto F. Neumann, an Austrian numismatist, representhis most salient contribution to the identification and study ofthese issues.