April 25^th 2002.

Next club meeting Monday 13^th May 2002.

• This will be a talk on Unofficial Countermarks on English Coins by Gavin Scott.

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

April meeting.

There were 19 members , 1 guest and 4 dealers tables.

Alison Barker gave an excellent talk on Love Tokens and engraved coins, the many different types being illustrated with slides from her extensive collection.

In her introduction Alison explained the background to Love Tokens and engraved coins:

• How the majority record some event, usually Birth, Marriage or Death (hatch, match dispatch)
• That there are 2 basic types - those that add to an existing design and those where the design is ground off and the blank flan re-engraved. Other more unusual variations include coin edges made to resemble rings and fretted examples where the coin field is removed leaving the letters and design suspended in a thin ring of metal
• That this type of token became very popular in the period of George II & George III. However, many examples were made in the 19th & early 20th centuries and the earliest example shown was a copper piece circa 1470 that was found near Salisbury.
• Many of the letters, words, pictures of animals, objects, shields and scenes have a particular meaning. The simplest form of letters and a date usually represent the initial(s) of (a) person(s) connected to an event in that year, On the other hand the more complex scenes need considerable knowledge to interpret the meaning.

Having given the well illustrated background Alison then discussed numerous examples and groups of tokens as they were projected, for example:

• Engraved bun pennies of Shakespeare, Salvation Army and various gentlemen
• Many types with letters, monograms and pictures of crests, shields, sports, trades
• Some ~ 18th century scenes of people riding, walking, talking
• Effigies of royalty and other notables, some expertly rendered in stippling
• Some couplet types where Elizabeth Swan shows a picture of a swan
• Marriages illustrated with a joining of hands
• Some exquisite portraits that look like photographs
• Maritime pieces carried by sailors and loved ones during long periods of separation
• Transportation tokens (perhaps the most poignant of all) often prepared while the poor guilty wretches were incarcerated awaiting transportation, most likely never to return.

Overall this talk was an excellent evening for the club and a privilege to be shown what surely must be one of the premier collections of this type of material.

Spring social

Sixteen people attended this annual event at the Red Lion, Theale, which included a buffet and a fine selection of beverages as well as skittles. The first game was Men versus the Ladies, which the Men won by a small margin. Top scorers were Tim and Lucy. Next up was the knockout competition, which saw John come out top. A new innovation this year was Irish knockout where you had to knock down one, and only one, skittle each go. This was intended to not only give the gentler players a better chance but also some protection to the re-setters. Earlier games had seen some 'exocet' deliveries rebounding off the walls threatening the life and limb of all and sundry. Jean won the Irish skittles. The chairman closed the evening by handing out the prizes and thanking all for coming. A few moments were taken to remember absent friends (Ken and Mark) who regularly supported this event for many years.

Well done to the winners and see you all again next year.

June Meeting

Along with the AGM this is the night of the Annual Display competition, the winner being awarded the Michael Broome Memorial Trophy to keep on their mantelpiece for 1 year. The competition is open to all members and can cover any topic connected to numismatics. Remember, it is not necessarily the grandest coins that win. Originality, enthusiasm, presentation and interest are just as likely to be the winning formula. Displaying members are required to give a short explanation on their display (5 minutes maximum) after which the attending members will judge the displays and cast their votes. The display with the most votes wins.

All display entrants will be given a raffle ticket, the winning ticket to receive a bottle of wine. So to all members please have a go and enter a display.

Future Events.

• Croydon Coin Auctions - l4th May
• London Coin Fair at Holiday Inn, Coram St, London WCl - 25th May

Past Events

30 years ago the guest speaker was from the Department of Coins & Medals at the British Museum. Mr R Carson talked about some of the coin treasures in the BM.

20 years ago Peter Clayton delivered one of his excellent talks on ancient coins. This time the subject was The Twelve Gods of Mount Olympus and their Sanctuaries.