March 19^th 2002.

Next club meeting Monday 8^th April 2002.

• This will be a talk on Love Tokens by Alison Barker.

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

March meeting.

At the March meeting Mr Christopher Wren talked to 21 members and 3 guests on the numerous metal detector finds coming from one particular field in Kent. The amazing fact is that at this one location coins and artefacts have been found in their hundreds and yet the field is some distance from any village, town or significant roadway. The only nearby habitation is a farmstead. The coins span a long period ranging from Celtic to the end of the hammered period, plus a few later issues. Throughout his talk Mr Wren introduced numerous anecdotes related to hammered coinage.

The talk began with a resume of the affects that metal detecting finds have had on increasing numismatic knowledge. Since the 1970's metal detecting has gone from strength to strength, with the last 20 years yielding vast quantities of finds. Many of the coins found, sometimes in hoards, have been new types, while others have greatly increased the number of specimens that were previously regarded as very rare. The volume and distribution of Celtic and early Saxon coins has led some scholars to the conclusion that coins were being more widely used in these early periods than previously thought. Many new mints and types have been discovered for the Saxon and Norman periods, plus many new die and mint combinations.

At this point the speaker introduced some interesting anecdotes:

• The extent of coin clipping and the dreadful punishments if caught
• The pecuniary advantages of continental imitations
• The use and manufacture of early Jetons
• The role of the Kings representative at local mints and how die control practices could account for some of the links between dies and moneyers

The final part of the talk focused on why so many coins, spanning such a long period, had been found in one isolated field. Several possibilities were put forward and discounted, such as a dump for town waste transported by river. However, the river is not that close by. A fairground or trade centre was not considered likely given the lack of an adjacent town/village and a nearby track was thought to have carried only light traffic. All things considered a bit of a mystery.

Spring social

The Spring social will be a skittles evening at the Red Lion pub, Theale on Saturday 20th April. The price is the same as last year, namely £8 per head. Will those members wishing to attend please give their names (and monies) to the chairman at the April meeting. We need a minimum of 15 persons to cover the costs, so why not come along.

Future Events.

• Davidson Monk Coin Fair. Saturday 13^th April. Commonwealth Institute. Kensington. London W8.
• Birmingham Coin Fair at the National Motorbike Museum, Birmingham Fair. Sunday 14^th April.
• Morton & Eden(ex Sotheby) Coin Auction - 18^th April

30 years ago, the club held a member's evening, including a mini coin fair.

20 years ago 40 people, including visitors from the Hayes, Woking and Beconsfield clubs attended a social evening. There were some nice displays on show, all competing for the cup, which was won by V. Byde.