Originally founded in 1836 as The Numismatic Society of London, the Society became The Royal Numismatic Society when it was granted its Charter in 1904.
The history of the Society was presented as a series of annual Presidential addresses by R.A.G. Carson – these were published in the Numismatic Chronicle between 1975 and 1978. The fifth and latest instalment was written to mark the 150th anniversary of the Society in 1986 and is accessible here with the others:
The full text, as published in 1986 (R.A.G. Carson, A History of the Royal Numismatic Society, 1936-1986, London 1986) is now available in pdf (opens in a new tab): A history of the royal numismatic society