Jacob Schulman

Jacques Schulman
Born1906 (1906)
Died1990 (aged 83–84)
OccupationsNumismatist, auctioneer, author
Known forHandboek van de Nederlandse munten, IAPN president
AwardsKnight of the Order of Orange-Nassau

Jacques Schulman (1906–1990) was a Dutch numismatist who served as president of the International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN) from 1953 to 1961. His Handboek van de Nederlandse munten introduced a classification system for Dutch coinage, known as the Schulman number, that remains in international use.[1][2]

Background

Schulman came from a family of numismatists. His grandfather Jacob Schulman (1849–1914) established a coin trading business in Amersfoort in 1880, holding his first public auction in 1889.[3] The firm moved to the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam in 1902 and later relocated to the Jan Luijkenstraat, where it remains active.[4][5]

Jacques studied at the Cabinet des Médailles, the École du Louvre, the Sorbonne, and the British Museum.[1] During World War II, his uncle Maurits Schulman was deported and killed at Sobibór extermination camp.[6] Jacques continued operating the Amsterdam business throughout the occupation, and expanded it after the war.[1]

Career and recognition

Schulman helped establish the IAPN in 1951 and served as its president from 1953 to 1961, followed by a term as treasurer.[7][8] He co-founded the first Dutch numismatic circle in Amsterdam (1947) and the journal De Geuzenpenning.[1]

In 1976, the Royal Dutch Numismatic Society (Koninklijk Nederlands Genootschap voor Munt- en Penningkunde) elected him an honorary member. He received the Knight of Orange-Nassau for his contributions to numismatics as a scholarly field.[1]

Handboek van de Nederlandse munten

During the German occupation, Schulman began compiling data on Dutch coinage, drawing on records his family had kept since the late nineteenth century.[2] He published the first edition of his Handboek van de Nederlandse munten 1795–1945 in 1946. The catalogue went through five editions, with the final one covering coins through 1975.[2][9]

The Handboek assigned each Dutch coin type a reference number. These Schulman numbers became the standard citation method for post-1795 Dutch numismatics and continue to appear in auction catalogues and scholarly literature worldwide.[2][10]

Family

Jacques Schulman's cousin Hans M.F. Schulman (1913–1990) emigrated to New York in 1938, where he became a founding member of both the Professional Numismatists Guild and the IAPN.[11] Jacques's son Laurens Schulman (born 1948) continues in the field, operating Laurens Schulman BV in Harderwijk.[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Schulman". Wiki Munten en Papiergeld (in Dutch).
  2. ^ a b c d "Het Schulman nummer". Laurens Schulman BV (in Dutch).
  3. ^ "Schulman, Jacques". NumismaticMall.com.
  4. ^ "Tijdschrift van het Nederlandsch Genootschap voor Munt- en Penningkunde" (in Dutch). June 1902.
  5. ^ "About Schulman b.v." Schulman.nl. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  6. ^ "Maurits Schulman". Digitaal Joods Monument.
  7. ^ "Hobby Leader". Coin World. 22 July 1981.
  8. ^ "The IAPN President and Executive Committee".
  9. ^ Schulman, Jacques (1975). Handboek van de Nederlandse munten van 1795 tot 1975. Amsterdam: Jacques Schulman B.V.
  10. ^ "Dutch Coins 1795 tot 2001". The E-Sylum. 26 (32). 2023.
  11. ^ "Hans M.F. Schulman".
  12. ^ "Laurens Schulman B.V." NVMH.