September 21^st 2000

Next club meeting Monday 2nd. October 2000.

• The speaker will be Peter Clayton talking on "Clear For Action - The Numismatics of Three Great Naval Battles".

Peter is an old friend of the club and has spoken to the club on several occasions in the past.

Meetings are held at the Abbey Baptist Church, Abbey Square, commencing at 7.00 p.m.

September meeting

Mr. John Orna-Ornstein from the British Museum presented a talk on "Illegal Tender Counterfeit Money Through the Ages".

This proved to be most interesting with many colour slides of various pieces of counterfeit coin both contemporary and later, showing that counterfeiting is nothing new, having been around almost as long as coins. Somebody, somewhere would look for the chance to make a fast buck. However, woe betide anybody who was caught counterfeiting or even in possession of counterfeit coins; the punishments have always been severe. We were reminded that counterfeit coins were not only passed as currency but that many were made especially for collectors. He gave several examples, including two 1933 pennies. Mr. Orna-Ornstein pointed out that public opinion of counterfeiters has been ambivalent over the years, with some being praised for their skill! In recent years there have been large numbers of counterfeit £1 coins and estimates were given that more than 1% of the £1 coins in circulation at the moment are fakes. In future the emphasis will probably change from counterfeits of coinage to counterfeiting of credit cards and the like. The exhibition in the British Museum from which this talk derives is still on and well worth attending, not only to see the counterfeits but also to see some of the genuine coins (like the 1933 penny) on show with them.

Several members brought along examples of counterfeit coins, not least Michael who has, over the years, acquired many interesting pieces including this counterfeit penny, illustrated here with its real equivalent.

and this counterfeit shilling and real equivalent.

Subscriptions

A further reminder for those who have not yet renewed their subscription for 2000/2001. These are now due and remain at the same rate as last year - £12.

British Museum Open Day

Reading Coin club will be presenting a display at the British Museum's Open Day on Wednesday, October 25th. Any volunteers to man the display on the day, or any ideas for what we are going to display, should be passed on to a committee member or raised at the October meeting.

Future Events.

Coin Fair. Wed. 4th. October Commonwealth Institute, Kensington, London W8. (12-5pm)

BNS. 26th September Warburg Institute, Woburn Square. William Wellesley Pole by Kevin Clancy

20 Years ago.

Roger Quetch was the speaker and his subject 'Numismatic Mishaps', was appropriate in another way. The details of the speaker and his subject were not put into the newsletter and we were locked out of the Museum. As the author of the newsletter commented at the time 'A numismatic mishap in more ways than one'.

We had 44 paid up members at that time, with 25 in attendance. Looking at the current membership, which is somewhat less, we are still managing around 20 members per meeting, which, in percentage terms, is much higher.