Philip Grierson facts for kids

Philip Grierson was a British historian and expert on coins. He lived from 1910 to 2006. He was a professor at Cambridge University and a member of Gonville and Caius College for over 70 years.

During his long career, he built one of the world's best collections of medieval coins. He also wrote many books about coins and helped more people learn about them. He worked as a teacher and a curator (someone who looks after museum collections) in Cambridge, Brussels, and Washington DC.

Early Life and Learning

Philip Grierson was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1910. His father was a land surveyor who later ran a small farm. Philip also had two sisters. His father collected freshwater snails, and this collection is now in a museum in Belfast.

Philip went to Marlborough College for school, where he focused on science. In 1929, he started studying medicine at Cambridge University. But he quickly changed his mind and decided to study history instead. He loved history for the rest of his life. His early interest in science helped him later with understanding coins, especially how they were made from different metals.

Life at Cambridge University

Philip was a brilliant student. He earned top grades and won important awards at the university and his college. After finishing his studies, he started researching the history of the Carolingian Empire.

In 1934, he was offered a special position called a "fellowship" at his college. This meant he could continue his research and teaching without needing to finish a PhD right away. He held many important jobs at the college, including being the college librarian for many years and even the President (the second most important person after the Master).

He also taught history at the university. He became a professor of numismatics (the study of coins) in 1971. He taught about European history from the 5th to the 15th century. He was also involved in many important historical and coin societies, showing how respected he was in his field.

Amazing Coin Collection

Philip Grierson started collecting coins by accident. Around Christmas 1944, he found an old Byzantine coin in his father's desk. It was a coin from Emperor Phocas. This discovery made him want to buy a few coins for his lectures.

But his small interest quickly grew! By the end of 1945, he had 1,500 coins. A year later, he had 3,500. Eventually, his collection grew to over 20,000 coins! It became the best collection of medieval European coins in the world. Even though it was kept at the Fitzwilliam Museum for many years, it remained his personal collection until he passed away. This allowed him to buy and sell coins to make his collection even better.

Philip was not super rich, but he spent most of his inheritance and two-thirds of his yearly income on coins. He was lucky because he started collecting when many medieval coins were available at low prices after World War II. He was a careful buyer, but he would spend a lot for special coins, like a very rare French coin of Charlemagne.

In 1982, Philip helped get money to publish a huge book series about his collection called Medieval European Coinage. The first book came out in 1986 and is still a very important guide for studying early medieval coins.

Working at the Fitzwilliam Museum

As his interest in coins grew, Philip started working closely with the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. In 1949, he became the Honorary Keeper of Coins and Medals. This meant he helped look after the museum's coin collection. He helped make the coin department one of the most active research places in the museum.

There is even a room named after him at the museum, where his coin collection is kept. He visited the coin room almost every day, adding new coins and meeting other coin enthusiasts, right up until he died.

Work in Other Countries

Philip's work also took him beyond Cambridge. In 1947, he was invited to teach about coins at the University of Brussels in Belgium. He taught there until he retired in 1981, spending parts of his holidays in Brussels each year.

He also started working in the United States in 1953. He helped teach at a summer school for coin studies. In 1955, he became an adviser and curator at the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington DC. His job there was to build the best collection of Byzantine coinage in the world and write books about it. He did an amazing job, even after accidentally dropping a tray of gold coins down a lift shaft once! The books he helped create about Byzantine coins are still the main reference books today.

At his busiest, Philip would spend different parts of the year teaching in Cambridge, Brussels, and Washington DC.

Personal Life

Even though he worked very hard and wrote many books, Philip Grierson was a very friendly person. He lived in the same rooms at his college in Cambridge for many years. These rooms were always busy with visitors. He never married, but he had many friends in Cambridge and other places. He often hosted parties for his friends.

When he wasn't studying, Philip loved going to the cinema. He was such a regular movie-goer that a local newspaper once joked that if Cambridge got another cinema, he could visit a different one every day! Later in life, he built a huge collection of 2,000 movies on video and DVD. He often wrote his thoughts about the movies on notes attached to them. He especially liked exciting movies like science fiction and horror.

As a young man, Philip was very interested in the Soviet Union and even toured it in 1932. He also showed his dislike for unfair governments by refusing to visit Spain when it was ruled by Franco. In 1938, he bravely went to Germany to help two Jewish academics get released from a concentration camp. He worked quickly with friends and a Member of Parliament to get them out and bring them to England.

During World War II, Philip was not able to join the military because of his eyesight and an old injury. He also couldn't join the secret code-breaking team at Bletchley Park because his German wasn't strong enough. So, he stayed in Cambridge and continued to teach history.

Philip remained active and healthy throughout his life. He played squash until he was 80 years old. He loved to tell stories, like how he climbed Mount Etna (a volcano in Sicily) during an eruption in 1949. He enjoyed physical challenges, like walking 44 miles home from London one evening! He even learned to fly a plane when he was in his 20s, but he never learned to drive a car.

Selected Books by Philip Grierson

• Coins of Medieval Europe (1991)
• Byzantine Coinage (1982)
• Numismatics (1975)