Gilles Bransbourg

Dr. Gilles Bransbourg

Dr. Gilles Bransbourg
Executive Director

Gilles Bransbourg joined the American Numismatic Society in September 2011 as a part-time Adjunct Curator, then Associate Curator, Deputy Director in 2016, and has been serving as Executive Director since November 2019.

Bransbourg’s passion for history dates from childhood: he won the French nationwide Concours Général award in History at the age of 17 in 1982 and then studied Economics, Mathematics, and Statistics in Paris at Lycée Louis-Le-Grand, École Polytechnique, Sciences Po and École Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Économique from 1983 to 1990. He became a market economist, then specialized in financial derivatives, finally to hold executive positions in the banking sector, before stepping down from his last position in 2005 in order to engage fully history. By 2010, Bransbourg had completed a PhD dealing with Roman taxation and monetary system at École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. He then joined NYU’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World in 2009 as a Visiting Research Scholar, where he retains an affiliation as Research Associate.

After joining the ANS, Dr. Bransbourg notably curated the exhibition Signs of Inflation at The Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2012, and supervised the implementation of the National Endowment for the Humanities-funded Online Coins of the Roman Empire. As Executive Director, leveraging on the ANS existing strengths and digital culture, he has committed to steering the Society toward digital outreach and education, ensuring that its resources would become available irrespective of geography, time zones, and distance. A frequent guest speaker in academic colloquiums and venues, he publishes extensively in a range of academic journals, conference proceedings, and books. Early in 2023, he has been invited for a residency at the American Academy in Rome, and as a guest speaker at the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Institut de France in Paris.

Dr. Bransbourg was made a knight in the French Order of the Académiques Palmes in 2015. He has contributed to the establishment of an English-French dual language curriculum in New York public schools. Since 2022, Gilles is affiliated with the Archaeometry Research Institute (IRAMAT) at CNRS-Université d’Orléans, as Chercheur Associé and, since 2023, with the CNRS Collège de France-located ‘Monde Byzantin’ research team as Membre Associé.

Research

Dr. Bransbourg’s research deals with comparative economic and monetary history. He publishes extensively in a range of academic journals, conference proceedings, and edited books.

Publications

A representative range of contributions includes:

The Roman Coinage under the Antonines Revisited: An Economy of Silver, not Gold,” in M. Lavan (ed.), The Uncertain Past, which will be published by Cambridge University Press (forthcoming).

“Regional Currencies within an Empire. Bronze Coinages of Greece and Asia at the Time of the Roman Conquest: a Case of Partial Monetary Convergence,” in H. Bru, A.G. Dumitru, and N. Sekunda (eds.), Geopolitique coloniale et cultures locales dans l’Orient hellenistique et romain (IIIe siecle av. J.-C. – IIIe siecle ap. J.-C.) (Archaeopress, 2021).

Co-Authored with R. Bagnall and I. Soto, “State Collection of Bronze in Early Fourth Century Egypt,” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik (2021).

L’étalon-or et la place de la monnaie d’argent durant l’Empire tardif,” in J. Chameroy and P.-M. Guihard (eds.), Argentum Romanorum sive Barbarorum. 2e rencontres internationales de numismatique (12-13 octobre 2017, Caen) (Romisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, 2020).

Inflation and Monetary Policy in the Fourth Century: Diocletian’s Twin Edict of 301,” in K. Butcher (ed.), Debasement: Manipulation of Coin Standards in Pre-Modern Monetary Systems (2020).

Co-authored with R. Bagnall “The Constantian Monetary Revolution,” ISAW Papers (2019).

Le monnayage de Marc-Antoine dit ‘des préfets de la flotte’ et l’apport de la collection Rick. B. Witschonke,” in L. Bricault, A. Burnett, V. Drost, and A. Suspène (eds.), Rome et les provinces, Monnayage et Histoire. Mélanges offerts à Michel Amandry (Ausonius, 2017).

Capital in the Sixth Century: the Dynamic of Tax and Estate in Egypt,” Journal of Late Antiquity (2016).

Currency Debasement and Debt Management at the Time of the Second Punic War,” in P. van Alfen, G. Bransbourg, and M. Amandry (eds.), Fides: Contributions to Numismatics in Honor of Richard B. Witschonke (American Numismatic Society, 2015).

Fiscal Regimes and the Political Economy of Premodern States,” in A. Monson and W. Scheidel (eds.), Fiscal Regimes and the Political Economy of Premodern States (Cambridge University Press, 2015) .

Fides et Pecunia Numerata Part II: The Currencies of the Roman Republic,” American Journal of Numismatics (2013).

Rome and the Economic Integration of Empire,” ISAW Papers (2012).

Fides et Pecunia Numerata, Chartalism and Metallism in the Roman World Part 1: The
Republic
,” American Journal of Numismatics (2011).

Co-authored, La Politique Monétaire de l’Euro (2009).

La Politique Monétaire de l’Euro

Fides: Contributions to Numismatics in Honor of Richard B. Witschonke

“Inflation and Monetary Policy in the Fourth Century: Diocletian’s Twin Edict of 301,” in, Debasement: Manipulation of Coin Standards in Pre-Modern Monetary Systems

Capital in the Sixth Century: the Dynamic of Tax and Estate in Egypt,” Journal of Late Antiquity (2016)

“Fiscal Regimes and the Political Economy of Premodern States,” in Fiscal Regimes and the Political Economy of Premodern States

“Le monnayage de Marc-Antoine dit ‘des préfets de la flotte’ et l’apport de la collection Rick. B. Witschonke,” in Rome et les provinces, Monnayage et Histoire. Mélanges offerts à Michel Amandry

“Regional Currencies within an Empire. Bronze Coinages of Greece and Asia at the Time of the Roman Conquest: a Case of Partial Monetary Convergence,” in Geopolitique coloniale et cultures locales dans l’Orient hellenistique et romain (IIIe siecle av. J.-C. – IIIe siecle ap. J.-C.)

“L’étalon-or et la place de la monnaie d’argent durant l’Empire tardif,” in Argentum Romanorum sive Barbarorum. 2e rencontres internationales de numismatique (12-13 octobre 2017, Caen)