November 20th. 1999.

Next club meeting Monday 6th. December 1999.

At Reading Library, King's Road. Entrance off Abbey Square.

Meeting commences at 7.00 pm.

November meeting.

An excellent talk and slide show from Peter Preston Morley on the East India Company Portcullis coinage of 1600/1.

400 years ago there was a requirement for a trading coinage that would be recognised and respected. The Portuguese and Dutch had signed agreements and were trading with far eastern kingdoms. The trade was mainly for spices and great profits were being made. England only had an overland agreement which was slow and dangerous and a disaster in trading terms.

The final insult was when the Dutch were having vessels built on the Thames for trading with the far east. The East India Company was to be established. Blocks of shares valued at £200 were issued and £30,000 was raised. Thomas Smith was the first Governor of the company and one of the first questions to be answered was "What currency would the company trade with?" Initially Queen Elizabeth 1st. withheld permission for the venture but this was eventually granted. Four ships were purchased and put to refit on the Thames.

James Lancaster was appointed as Captain of the fleet. Included in the outward cargo was £30,000 of foreign bullion of which £6,000 would be exchanged for English bullion which would be specially minted. The coin would be in 4 denominations, 1, 2, and 4 testerns and 1 dollar. The Royal coat of arms would be displayed on the obverse and the portcullis would be displayed on the reverse.

It was decided to strike a further £66 of coinage and of this £20 of the coins were issued to company officers and investors. This £20 of coinage is the main source of the coins available today. The fleet, now consisting of 5 ships eventually set sail and all of them eventually arrived in Sumatra in the East Indies. Bases were established and trade commenced. There are today 197 pieces of this currency known, 46 x 1 testerns, 45 x 2 testerns, 59 x 4 testerns and 47 x 8 testerns or dollars made from various obverse and reverse dies.

Thank you to Mr. Peter Preston Morley a member of the Wessex Numismatic club

for an interesting and informative talk.

22 members attended and there were 5 dealer tables open.

November meeting Coin display.

A Club member was kind enough to show his bi-metallic coin collection at the meeting.

There were 80 different coins on display from a world wide issue of around 400.

The displayed coins were from about 25 different countries. The equivalent sterling value of the coins range from a few pence to £2. The member paid 10 pence for his cheapest coin and £3 for the most expensive. The grades were variable but mostly on the higher side.

Russia is issuing a set of endangered animals and Gibraltar is issuing a set of the twelve labours of Hercules. The member says that this is a interesting niche of numismatics to collect without a huge outlay of money.

I am not aware of any member bringing a display to the next meeting.

Library.

Our librarian cannot always make it to the Club meetings so he has put into place a system that allows members at the meeting to take and return books which are in the library. On the inside of the library door is a document where members can sign for a book when they borrow and sign in when they return. As easy as that. Will members please make sure that they comply with this system?

Kay C.

Kay has been in touch with the Club and send her regards and best wishes to all members. Kay has not been too well recently. All club members wish Kay a speedy recovery.

BANS.

The meeting began with a happy announcement early on, that Keith Sugden was to be made an honorary Vice President of the society, this was carried 'by acclamation'.

Election of officers

There was a vacancy for the post of treasurer, which is to be filled by Tony Gilbert.

Treasurers report

There was a small deficit overall this year, due to spending on publications. The meeting also agreed to appoint auditors from now on. This had not been done before.

Secretaries reports

The publication secretary reported that a new publication was now available. It is entitled "The British Association of Numismatic Societies: its first 50 years 1947-1997" and is by Harrington Manville. There are quite a few copies of the previous publications in the series and each member of BANS would be receiving a free set. In addition members could order further copies for 2/3 the price given on the pricelist.

The museum report will be in the minutes and was not presented because Peter Preston-Morley was not at the meeting.

There were about 50 general letters during the year.

Congresses

There were 61 delegates at the 1999 congress at York. The 2000 congress will be in Glasgow, 2001 is still awaiting offers, 2002 is to be in Belfast and 2003 in Suffolk.

Lecture Courses

The 1999 Autumn weekend at Oxford was attended by 34 full residential delegates. Funding is tricky, the Royal Mint has supported since 1991 and an anonymous donor helped support the Oxford weekend. Funding from the RNS will pay for two lecturers in 2000 for the weekend in Nottingham (Sept. 9). Lecturers for the Oxford weekend had to pay to attend.

Reports from Members

Generally good, but everyone was complaining about members getting older and membership dropping. Members may be asked for statistics on membership through the years.

Internet

BANS has its own web site [Reading are on it. Ed.] which has been done mainly by Adrian Nicholl. A discussion of confidentiality on the 'Net' followed. In general no 'snail-mail' addresses should be put on the Net, only e-mail ones and it is also a good idea not to use surnames.

AOB

The chairman announced that there would be a proposal to raise the fees at the next AGM. The exact form of the subscription may change.

Future Events.

Coin Fair. Saturday 18th. December Commonwealth Institute. Kensington. London W8.

Coin Fair Sunday 12th December. National Motor Cycle Museum Bickenhill Birmingham.

20 Years ago.

The November meeting was our annual auction. This was well attended but bidding was not up to the usual standard. Most of the lots were sold but mainly at or near their reserves. There were nine sellers and sixteen buyers. The clubs commission was £18.79.