Adolfo Modesti was born in Teramo in 1938 but has lived in Rome for around fifty years, working in the hotel industry. Since 1970 he has devoted much of his spare time to studying Italian artistic medals, with particular attention to Papal medals, and on this subject he has published various volumes, essays and articles. He is a Member of the Board of Governors of the Italian Academy of Numismatic Studies and of the Advisory Committee of the Italian Journal of Numismatics. Because of his vast knowledge of the subject and his experience in the field he has provided consultations and evaluations for private collectors and public bodies, including the Bank of Rome and the National Mint; he has organized and re-arranged important collections of medals such as that in the Vatican’s Apostolic Library; he has organised exhibitions of medals and antique books on the subject both in Italy and abroad for the National Library in Rome, the A.I.A.M. (the Italian Medal Association), the Fair of Vicenza and the Italian Institute of Culture in Barcelona. Over the years he has built up the most important library in the world on the art of the medal in various countries, with particular emphasis on Italy. This collection of books contains around 3,500 titles, with editions published from XVI to XXI century.

He has published many studies in Italian, including the following subjects:

1986 -	Medals of Pius X and Benedict XV
1987 -	Medals of Pius XI
1988 -	The Papal Series of Restitution by Girolamo Paladino
1989 -	Medals of Pius XII
1992 -	The Papal Series of Restitution by Giovanni Battista Pozzi
1992 -	The Papal Series of Restitution by Ferdinand de Saint-Urbain
1994 -	Figures of Art and Culture in the Work of Mario Valeriani
1995 -	Papal Medals of Civitavecchia
1995 -	Women’s Faces in the Works of Mario Valeriani
1997 -	Numismata in Libris
1997 -	When a Book is Worth its Weight in Gold (exhibition catalogue)
1998 -	Mario Valeriani: Artist, Scholar and Poet of Medals (exhibition catalogue)
2000 -	Medals of the Holy Years (exhibition catalogue)
2002 -	Corpus Numismatum Omnium Romanorum Pontificum (vol. I – 42-1523)
2003 -	Corpus Numismatum Omnium Romanorum Pontificum (vol. II – 1523-1559)
2004 -	Corpus Numismatum Omnium Romanorum Pontificum (vol. III – 1559-1585) currently being completed: expected date of publication Spring 2004