diff --git a/eventcontent.go b/eventcontent.go
index 8bb7eddc..fede9293 100644
--- a/eventcontent.go
+++ b/eventcontent.go
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ const (
 )
 
 // Value returns the history visibility. If an unknown value is set then
-// it will return "joined".
+// it will return "shared".
 func (h HistoryVisibility) Value() HistoryVisibility {
 	switch h {
 	case HistoryVisibilityWorldReadable, HistoryVisibilityShared:
@@ -231,10 +231,39 @@ func (h HistoryVisibility) Value() HistoryVisibility {
 	case HistoryVisibilityInvited, HistoryVisibilityJoined:
 		return h
 	default:
-		return HistoryVisibilityJoined
+		return HistoryVisibilityShared
 	}
 }
 
+var hisVisStringToIntMapping = map[HistoryVisibility]uint8{
+	HistoryVisibilityWorldReadable: 1, // Starting at 1, to avoid confusions with Go default values
+	HistoryVisibilityShared:        2,
+	HistoryVisibilityInvited:       3,
+	HistoryVisibilityJoined:        4,
+}
+
+var hisVisIntToStringMapping = map[uint8]HistoryVisibility{
+	1: HistoryVisibilityWorldReadable, // Starting at 1, to avoid confusions with Go default values
+	2: HistoryVisibilityShared,
+	3: HistoryVisibilityInvited,
+	4: HistoryVisibilityJoined,
+}
+
+// NumericValue returns the numeric value of the HistoryVisibility.
+func (h HistoryVisibility) NumericValue() uint8 {
+	return hisVisStringToIntMapping[h.Value()]
+}
+
+// HistoryVisibilityFromInt gets the HistoryVisibility given an uint8.
+// If there is no match, it returns "shared".
+func HistoryVisibilityFromInt(n uint8) HistoryVisibility {
+	vis, ok := hisVisIntToStringMapping[n]
+	if !ok {
+		return HistoryVisibilityShared
+	}
+	return vis
+}
+
 // JoinRuleContent is the JSON content of a m.room.join_rules event needed for auth checks.
 // See  https://matrix.org/docs/spec/client_server/r0.2.0.html#m-room-join-rules for descriptions of the fields.
 type JoinRuleContent struct {
diff --git a/eventcontent_test.go b/eventcontent_test.go
index 79ec42a5..cc8bc487 100644
--- a/eventcontent_test.go
+++ b/eventcontent_test.go
@@ -93,3 +93,60 @@ func TestStrictPowerLevelContent(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("bad content should have errored but didn't")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestHistoryVisibilityFromInt(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		args uint8
+		want HistoryVisibility
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "unknown value returns shared visibility",
+			args: 100,
+			want: HistoryVisibilityShared,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "known value returns correct visibility",
+			args: 1,
+			want: HistoryVisibilityWorldReadable,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if got := HistoryVisibilityFromInt(tt.args); got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("HistoryVisibilityFromInt() = %v, want %v", got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestHistoryVisibility_NumericValue(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		h    HistoryVisibility
+		want uint8
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "unknown history visibility defaults to shared",
+			h:    HistoryVisibility("doesNotExist"),
+			want: 2,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "history visibility returns correct value",
+			h:    HistoryVisibilityJoined,
+			want: 4,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "history visibility returns correct value 2",
+			h:    HistoryVisibilityShared,
+			want: 2,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if got := tt.h.NumericValue(); got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("NumericValue() = %v, want %v", got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/headeredevent.go b/headeredevent.go
index ef8ec492..449d60e6 100644
--- a/headeredevent.go
+++ b/headeredevent.go
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ import (
 // about the room version. All header fields will be added into the event
 // when marshalling into JSON and will be separated out when unmarshalling.
 type HeaderedEvent struct {
-	RoomVersion RoomVersion `json:"-"`
+	RoomVersion RoomVersion       `json:"-"`
+	Visibility  HistoryVisibility `json:"-"`
 	*Event
 }