Richard J. Plant

Rev. Richard J Plant (1928-2020) – once dubbed “the Reverend of Numismatics” by The Celator (see issues linked below) – was a Methodist Minister in the UK and well-known author on classical numismatics. He began collecting ancient coins shortly after being stationed in Tripoli after WWII, c. 1948, and publishing books about 25 years later (see below). In addition to his distinctive hand drawn illustrations (some modeled on examples from his own collection), Plant’s books are known for a focus on linguistic understanding, including most famously Arabic Coins and How to Read Them.

He died in 2020 and his collection was dispersed beginning in 2021 by two London-based coin firms, Dix Noonan Webb and Naville Numismatics. The DNW website catalogs much of the collection, along with an extended biographical foreword by his son (199 Lots sold at DNW 188, the 2021 Feb 9 Auction [Special Collection 991], though the Islamic/Medieval coins are cataloged separately).

   The Numismatic Bibliomania Society published an obituary & biographical in the E-Sylum Vol 23 – No 36 – Article 8 (6 Sep 2020).