November 2005.
Next club meeting - Monday 5th December 2005.
The activities will be as follows
| 1 | The main feature will be a mini coin fair. Tables will be charged & there will be a collective members table. |
| 2 | a picture identification quiz to be completed at leisure during the evening - prize for highest score. |
| 3 | Guess the number of coins in the jar - prize for best guess |
| 4 | The member to bring along one or two items that for some reason are considered special (e.g. recent acquisition, a long sought after piece, an unusual find, an oddity etc.). A brief written explanation as to why the piece is special to you. Display tables will be available. |
| 5 | Buffet |
Meetings are held at the Abbey Baptist Church, Abbey Square, commencing at 7.00 p.m.
November meeting
The talk in November given by Julian Baker described a national scheme for recording the details and identification of finds and hoards, known as the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
The scheme is an electronic database in which details of finds are not only recorded but where the data can be manipulated for research purposes, e.g. trend analysis. The scheme initially started as a pilot in 6 local areas in 1997, but is now national and contains a huge amount of information, e.g.
The database allows distribution maps to be generated, with the finds signified as dots. Clicking on a dot displays the details of the find/ hoard. Identifying the finds can be quite time consuming, thus clear criteria for classification have been established.
As would be expected the growth of metal detecting has had a major impact on the rate of finds. This is reflected in that 40% of the data has been reported in the past 2 years. This amount of information has meant that all involved in the scheme need a good understanding of the Treasure Act to ensure finds are correctly reported to the appropriate authorities.
To administer the scheme there are 36 locally based `Find Liaison Officers' who are the primary points of contacts with the public. The finds officers are supported by 5 `Finds Advisors' and 5 centrally based staff.
The details of the scheme are quite complex. If members require a better understanding please look in the BANS/ BNS club file in the library where a recent article on the scheme is to be found.
Autumn Social
On Saturday 19th November 16 members and guests enjoyed a really good evening social at the Toby Carvery in Reading. Not only was the food very good and of epic proportions but the cost was very reasonable indeed. The wine flowed freely and the banter covered a wide range of subjects, without much mention of numismatics. Tales from Bob the Builder were prominent and seemed to strike a chord with several of us. Our thanks go to David for making the arrangements. We will certainly be repeating the outing next year and would hope that a greater number of members can be persuaded to attend.
Annual Subscriptions
Will the few persons yet to pay their club subscriptions please do so at the next club meeting. If you cannot attend please send your subs to David.
Future meetings
The subject for the January meeting is short talks by members and we still need volunteers. Will members willing to give a talk please contact a committee member either at the December meeting, or by phone so that the comnuttee can schedule the agenda for the evening. The talk can be on any numismatic related topic and need only last for 10 - 15 minutes.
Club Auction
The club auction is due to take place at the beginning of February. This may seem a long way off but you will need to start thinking about pieces you wish to include in the sale. Please bring along your coins, medals, tokens, banknotes and any other numismatic material to any of the forthcoming meetings and hand them to any committee member.
If we all put in just a few lots we can make this an enjoyable and successful evening. The auction commission charge will be 10% on the first £20 + 5% on the sum over and above the first £20.
Future Events.
Past Events.
In November 1975 the club auction took place - no details available.
Ten years later members heard a talk on the excavations at Silchester.