May 21st. 2003.
Next club meeting Monday 2nd June 2003
- This is the club's AGM and Annual display Competition for the Michael Broome Cup.
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 wining ticket to receive a bottle of wine. So to all members please have a go and enter a display.
Meetings are held at the Abbey Baptist Church, Abbey Square, commencing at 7.00 p.m.
May meeting.
For this meeting the scheduled talk was to have been given by Mr R Hughes on The Origination of Banknotes. Unfortunately he was unable to attend.
Once again relying on the strength of club members Michael, at extremely short notice, valiantly stepped forward to fill the gap. Continuing the intended theme for the evening Michael also spoke on the origins of English banknotes.
To open his talk Michael gave a short overview of the origins of the banking system. In the middle ages merchants tended to deposit their wealth in the Tower, for which they received a receipt. Over time confidence was lost in the system. Subsequently it was the goldsmiths who became the repository for wealth, and it was these gentlemen who formed associations that eventually developed into Banks as we know them today. (Comment- Henry Hoare was a goldsmith who set up Hoare's bank circa 1674 and whose residence (Stourhead) in now managed by the National Trust. Hoare's bank is the UK's only independent UK bank still in existence in the City.)
The first banknotes were issued in 7th century China during the Tang dynasty. They were printed on Mulberry paper. The first European banknotes were issued in Sweden in 1661 with values linked to copper plate money. The experiment ceased in 1664 due to problems associated with the export of copper.
The Bank of England was founded in 1694 and issued a series of banknotes. However, they were only current for 12 months due to forgery. It was recognised that more security was required and this was achieved using watermarked paper. Michael then gave a brief history of the key events and persons in the banknote paper trade. The company 'Portals' founded by Henry Portal in 1720 has been the principal supplier of paper for banknotes ever since. Michael also explained the formal procedure for printing/ delivery of the paper to the printers who were not on the Bank of England site until 1791 and the amusing procedure for the daily issue and collection of printing plates form the Bank to the printer's works. Even after 1791 the printing company was a private enterprise working on the Bank of England site.
The first watermarked banknote to pay bearer was issued in 1697 for the sum of £500 (and now worth a hundred times that value) which was paid out in three instalments. The notes were printed in pairs; thus they had one cut edge and three decaled edges. They were printed on a flat bed press consisting of a flat plate between two rollers, capable of printing two note pairs per minute.
For the remainder of his talk Michael spoke about the changes that occurred through the 17th -20th centuries. With the aid of many slides he covered the changes to the Britannia vignette, the denominations issued, the improvements to printing machinery and the development of machinery for applying the sequential serial number.
To close a few words were said about the conversion of St Luke's hospital into the Bank of England printing works. Although the buildings were much modified the distinctive facade was retained, later to feature on the
£1 banknote.
Well done Michael for putting together a good and well illustrated talk at such short notice.
There were sixteen members, one guest and four dealer tables at the meeting.
Summer Social
The trip to Birmingham is scheduled for the 13th August. Will any members wishing to partake who have not already indicated their interest please ensure they sign up at the June meeting.
Future Events.
Davidson Monk Coin Fair at the Commonwealth Institute 24th May & 21st June
London Coin Fair at the Holiday Inn Bloomsbury - 7th June
Baldwins Auction at the London Coin Fair - 7th June
Coin Fair. Sunday 8th June. National Motorbike Museum, Birmingham
DNW Coin Auction - 25th June
Past Events.
30 Years ago. 30 years ago Mr M Broome delivered a talk on Maria Theresa
Thalers.
20 years ago Marion Archibald spoke on Viking coins, tracing their history through the Dark Ages. She explained that the evidence from widespread hoards has revealed a strong commercial approach to life at this time.
In 1992 MR R Bishop was expected to deliver a talk on research pertaining to Medieval coins. It was therefore a surprise to hear about the history of Christie's, albeit quite interesting.