Professor Ya'akov Meshorer (August 14, 1935 – June 23, 2004) was the Chief Curator for archaeology at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and a prominent Israeli numismatist.

Known to colleagues and friends as 'Yankele', Meshorer was born in Jerusalem in 1935 into the prominent Mani family, who had lived in the area for centuries.

Meshorer served as a reservist in the Jerusalem Reconnaissance Company and in 1967 was slightly wounded in the Six-Day War.

He was instrumental in the decision to base the design of many of the modern coins on ancient Jewish coinage, in this way linking past and present in the State of Israel.

Meshorer was invited to lecture and research at several major institutions, including the American Numismatic Society in New York City, Duke University, the British Museum, the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris.