Willis, Alastair

Alastair Willis (* 1989) studied Ancient History and Archaeology (BA) at Bristol University and Egyptology (MA) at the University of Liverpool. After holding various positions at museums and the Department of Coins and Medals of the British Museum, he worked for the Portable Antiquities Scheme from 2013 to 2019: first as volunteer and intern in Wiltshire, Hampshire and Lincoln, then he became Finds Liaison Officer for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire in 2015. Since 2019 he has been Senior Curator for Numismatics and the Welsh Economy at the National Museum of Wales.

His research interests are Welsh trade tokens, pub tokens and banknotes, Roman coinage and coin hoards, and medals associated with Wales or awarded to recipients in Wales. In addition, he deals with coin finds in Wales and assists Welsh Finds Liaison Officers of the Portable Antiquities Scheme with numismatic enquiries.

Alastair Willis curated two exhibitions dedicated to the Portable Antiquities Scheme: 2017/18 at the Derby Museum and Art Gallery and 2018/19 at the University of Nottingham Museum. He’s currently working on making the collection of his museum available online.

You can contact Alastair Willis via e-mail.

For more information on the collection and the museum, visit the museum’s website.

Alastair is also responsible for the museum’s archaeology and numismatics Twitter account.