David Hendin
American journalist and numismatist (born 1945)
David Bruce Hendin (born December 16, 1945) is an American numismatist who studies ancient Judean and Biblical coins, ancient scale weights and related archaeology. He was elected president of the American Numismatic Society in 2024. Hendin has also worked as a medical journalist, newspaper columnist, publishing executive, literary agent, and author. Some of Hendin's books include Death as a Fact of Life and the reference Guide to Biblical Coins.
Early life and education
David Bruce Hendin is the son of Aaron and Celeste Sherman Hendin (died 1947) and Lillian Karsh Hendin (married 1949). Hendin spent his early years in St. Louis. After graduating from Ladue Horton Watkins High School in 1963, Hendin attended the University of Missouri, Colombia, and he received his Bachelor of Science in Biology in 1967 and his MA in Journalism in 1970.
Jewish-Biblical numismatics
Hendin's interest in ancient Jewish and Biblical coins began in 1967 during a year as a biology teacher at an agricultural high school near the Israeli town of Ashkelon. Aaron Hendin, M.D., David's father, had been a long-time collector and student of ancient Judean coins, though David had not previously shown interest in the subject.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “David Hendin” is american journalist and numismatist (born 1945). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through David, Hendin and American, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “american journalist and numismatist (born 1945)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5234902. VIAF identifies the subject as 41980669. The Library of Congress control number is n50027204. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1945, 2024, 1947 and 1949.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “David Hendin”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow David Hendin primary sources, David Hendin archive and David research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “David Hendin”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “David Hendin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.