Next club meeting - Monday 3^rd. December 2001.

• Continuing Research at the Public Records Office by William Spencer

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

Jill Greenway, from the Reading Museum, delivered a most intriguing talk. Using material from Silchester, Jill explained how she has become very interested in the inscriptions, scribbles, marks, and graffiti on a variety of items ranging from the traditional dedications to bricks, tiles and pottery. Furthermore, from study of these writings Jill believes it may be possible to deduce the level of literacy of the general population of Roman Britain. Both before and after the Roman period British society was generally illiterate. However, it can be reasoned that there would be little point in placing graffiti and names on every day items such as bricks, tiles and pots if the general population could not appreciate the meaning. In other words the literacy level in Roman Britain must have been greater than previously thought.

In the first part of her talk Jill illustrated several examples of 'monument' type inscriptions, cut by skilled hands. She described the variable quality of the carving and how the inscriptions may be interpreted by noting the style and position of the letters, some of which only minute traces were visible. In some cases it was felt that historians may have wishfully interpreted the inscriptions rather than taking the actual evidence into account.

To further support the theory that Roman society was literate Jill talked about the uniformity of Roman coinage over the whole empire. The large variety of inscriptions would have served little purpose to an illiterate society. The number of good counterfeits in the 4th century may indicate the forgers could understand what they were forging. The lead seals emanating from Europe and found at Silchester proves that official documents were being received, and presumably read. Likewise, the letters and words in maker's stamps on metal and glass objects must have been understood.

In the next part of her talk Jill discussed the various marks on bricks, tiles and pots. While some marks were more the official type, others were definitely common graffiti. It was postulated that some of the graffiti on bricks and tiles was to do with the actual production, such as 'end of batch', 'number in batch', 'next to be fired' etc. Other graffiti however, was simply messages just like graffiti of today - and people must have had some degree of literacy to appreciate the message.

The talk concluded with some nice examples of printed and scribbled names on pots and drinking vessels.

There were 21 members and 1 guest, 5 dealers tables.

The member's display, provided by Michael Gouby, was the MBE awarded to Val Gouby and the accompanying certificates, booklets and citation. An early example of an MBE from 1919 was also displayed, the order being instigated in 1917.

The club auction will take place at the 7^th January and lots are required on or before the December meeting. So please bring along your lots to the next meeting and hand them to any committee member. If we all put in just a few items we can make this an enjoyable and successful evening.

For those who have not yet renewed their subscription for 2001/2002 please do so as otherwise this will be your final newsletter. Subscriptions remain at the same rate as last year - £12. Please send your subscriptions to Maurice or hand them to a committee member.

Two proposals announced last year have taken place:

BANS is changing its subscription fees from a capitation base to a flat fee of £5 per society

We have received reprints of 5 publications including, A History of BANS, Guide to Numismatic Resources and Maria Theresa Thalers by M Broome

The 2001 congress in Manchester was attended by 50 people, while 32 attended the Autumn congress. The 2002 congress will take place in Belfast on 5~7th April, with the Autumn congress on 6~8th September at Hatfield College, Durham.

Reports from around the regions show that there is still a problem recruiting younger people, though severalclubs are still doing well. Considerable emphasis was placed on the use of the Internet and the BANS website as a source of free publicity.

Davidson Monk Coin Fair at the Commonwealth Institute 15^th December

Coin Fair. Sunday 9^th December. National Motorbike Museum, Birmingham

Glendinning Auction - 17^th December

DNW Coin Auction - 28/29^th November (includes a good offering of Berkshire Tokens)

30 years ago the club auction took place - not very well attended.

20 years ago was a members evening comprising a talk by M Broome on Arabian coins, a nurnismatic quizand a mini auction

10 years ago L Mathews entertained members with a talk on his most recent medal acquisitions, starting with a Trafalgar medal and finishing with a medal awarded to an RFC pilot killed in WW1. Of particular interest was an Indian Mutiny group that had lain in a bank vault since mid Victorian times.