about us

nomos ag, numismatists

Nomos AG was founded near Lucerne, Switzerland in 1972 by Dr. Roland Maly who ran it until his unexpected death in 2005. Dr. Maly had begun collecting and working with coins in the early 1950s and helped form many collections of classical coins that were exemplary for their quality and interest. After his death, his private collection was sold in Zürich, but the firm and its invaluable photo file were acquired from Dr. Maly’s heirs by a long-time collector of ancient coins, Dr. A. Peter Weiss, who decided to continue the business. Victor England and Eric McFadden, well-known for their role in establishing CNG, were additional co-owners of Nomos until their full time retirement from the coin business in 2023. Dr. Weiss continues as the company’s Executive Chairman.

Since its re-foundation, Nomos AG has specialized in rare and beautiful ancient, medieval and early modern coins and medals, presented in our price lists or at auction, or by direct sale; it is a matter of pride that a number of major institutional clients, in Europe, the United States and the Middle East, have acquired important items for their collections from us, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Harvard Art Museums, and Princeton University among many others.

A first fixed price list was produced in the United States in late 2007. The following year, an office was acquired in the historic old town of Zürich and opened to the public in February 2009. Recently, Nomos relocated to a larger office nearby. Each year we hold 2-3 major public auctions in Zürich and complement our offerings with 5-6 electronic auctions (‘Obolos’). Nomos maintains a large stock of premium quality coins for sale by private treaty and produces a fixed price list annually in conjunction with the New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC) held every January.

Dimitrios Gerothanasis, joined Nomos as a Numismatist in 2017. Dimitrios is completing a significant die study on the coinage of Mende. He serves on the International Bureau for the Suppression of Counterfeit Coins (IBSCC) committee of the International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN). His deep knowledge of both Greek and Roman coins, honesty and complete integrity make him a perfect fit with the Nomos team. He speaks Greek, English and German as well as some French and Italian.

Johannes Stelzhammer, with degrees from Vienna University (BA in Ancient History, MA in Numismatics) and currently researching on Pescennius Niger and the Eastern Coinages of Septimius Severus, joined Nomos several years ago. Not only does he have a strong numismatic background, he has also spent some ten years in banking, and his varied experience is now at the service of Nomos’ clients. Born in Austria, he speaks German, English, Dutch, and some Italian, and is a zealous researcher and cataloguer. He was recently appointed as Director of Operations based on his excellent programmatic and organizational skills, however, he will also continue as a numismatist.

Dr. Alan Walker, our Senior Numismatist, joined Nomos at the time of its reorganization in 2007. Alan holds a degree in Classics from the Johns Hopkins University and a doctorate in Classical Archaeology from the University of Pennsylvania. He became an integral member of the Nomos team after 28 years with the numismatic department of Bank Leu and its successors. He received field training in archaeology in England; later, in Athens, he worked, under the auspices of the American School of Classical Studies on the coins from the Agora Excavations. In his years in Zürich, Alan was responsible for researching and writing some of the world’s finest numismatic auction catalogues. While technically retired, he remains extremely active cataloguing coins and writing newsletters of exceptional wit for our firm.

Rex Gao, a graduate in history from San Jose State University and now working on his master’s thesis, has recently joined Nomos as a cataloguer and numismatist. He started collecting coins as a child in the USA, completed a Stack’s Bowers training program and has developed a strong expertise in ancient coins.Rex is fluent in English and Mandarin and has started working on his German.

Claudia de Capitani, Head Office Manager, and Christina Hornung, Associate Office Manager, run our Zürich office. Claudia has been with Nomos for many years and understands the peculiarities of the business very well. Christina is a great asset, especially helping to organize auction sales, shipments and liaising with bidders. Both speak multiple languages and are ready to assist clients.

Cataloguers and researchers around the world

Jared Clark is an ordained minister who holds a BA from California Lutheran University, MA in Biblical Studies from The Master’s University, and MDiv from the Master’s Seminary in Los Angeles. He is currently a PhD candidate at Macquarie University studying under Kenneth Sheedy. His studies focus on the early coinage of the Decapolis. He has written articles for the Numismatic Chronicle and Israel Numismatic Research. Jared provides dedicated cataloguing for our auctions.

Working on a part-time basis for Nomos is Dr. John Voukelatos, Numismatic Researcher. John is an Australian cardiologist who earned his medical degree from the University of Melbourne in 1985 and continues to work in the private and public hospital sectors. He has an exceptional expertise in provenance research using his superb library. He has also published several papers on the history of important collections.

New Offices: Nomos has recently established offices in Ghent, Belgium and Charleston, South Carolina, USA to further assist clients worldwide. Our catalogues remain among the finest produced with exceptional content and presentation highlighting coinage of superb quality and historical importance. Our firm has begun presenting non-ancient coins as well with an example being the 2024 auction of one of the finest collections of modern Greek coins offered in the past half century.

Dimitrios, Johannes, Rex, Maxim and, occasionally, Peter are attending most major international auctions and leading coin fairs and are available to provide expertise and representation for collectors. Alan can usually be found at our offices in Zürich and remains an eminent authority on numismatics.