March 2006
Next club meeting Monday 3rd April 2006.
Meetings are held at the Abbey Baptist Church ,Abbey Square, commencing at 7.00 p.m.
March meeting.
This month our guest speaker was Barry Cooke from the British Museum. His well illustrated talk was entitled City Views on European Coins. All slides used to illustrate his talk were from specimens held in the BM.
The earliest views of towns on pre 16th century coins tended to be symbolic, rather than factual, since the primary focus was the portrait of the ruler or dignitary. However, by the late 16th century areas on the Netherlands began to rebel against the Spanish rule, and to demonstrate their feelings against the unwelcome administrations, many cities issued medallions, some of which portrayed city views. Generally there were four types of views, the first two the more usual:
In 1618 the 30 years war began and several cities began to issue Thalers in order to pay their troops. Some depicted city views. They nearly always showed the city walls and churches, but often also included other key features such as harbours, rivers and significant buildings. Some hoped to illustrate the impregnability of their city ( early propaganda'?) or their protective spirit such as the `Angel of Augsburg'.
To illustrate the points being made in the talk Barry showed examples from several cities, including Oxford during the time of Charles I.
At the cessation of hostilities in the how countries and as prosperity returned, many cities issued coins and proclaiming their virtues, often in the form of a city view; some displaying both wealth and strength. Again Barry showed several examples.
To show that it was not only the coins and medallions of the Low countries and Germany that issued city views Barry spoke about some city views from further a field, including the defeat of the Turks and the war of the Spanish succession. This latter piece depicted a fine view of Barcelona. The talk concluded with an English Jacobite medallion depicting a view of London on one side and a Hanovarian horse trampling a lion &. unicorn on the other.
Our thanks go to Mr Barry Cooke for providing such an interesting talk.
Spring social
It is not too late to sign up for the Spring Social. This will be a skittles evening at the Red Lion pub, Theale on Saturday 8th April. We intend to start gathering around 7pm for an 8pm kick off.
The price is £12 per head (£24 per couple) and includes a good buffet. If you would like to come please see any Committee member at the April meeting. Those attending who have not yet paid the treasurer please do so at the April meeting.
Library
Be advised that copies of both the 2004 and 2005 BNJ are now in the library.p>
Future Events.
Past Events
This evening 30 years ago Mr R Sharman gave a talk on the Pax 1d of William I.
In 1986 Mr L Brown spoke about the commemorative medallions covering the struggle for Africa, and in particular those famous personalities Livingstone and Stanley.
Numismatic Interlude
Continuing the theme to republish articles from the past here is the next offering.
MARIA THERESIA TALERS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA
by M.R. Broome F.R.N.S.
The recent numismatic history of South East Asia is a fascinating and complex picture of the underlying traditional coinages being gradually swamped by massive supplies of foreign bullion. These supplies, largely in the form of struck coin, were brought into the region by the merchant trading companies in exchange for the natural products increasingly in demand by the affluent 'western countries. One small part of this picture is provided by the large silver crown-sized coins of the Holy Roman Empire struck from the middle of the 18th, century in the name of Maria Theresia.
At this time, the Holy Roman Empire meant the lands of the Habsburghs. When the Emperor Charles VI died in 1740, he left his eldest daughter to rule lands stretching from the North Sea to the frontier of the Ottoman Empire, and which contained some of the richest silver mines in Europe. Maria Theresia, then 23 and pregnant with her third child, had no formal education in statecraft or politics, a husband with little skill in either, and one of the worst administrative systems in the western world.
Charles VI had spent the last years of his life persuading and bribing the powers of Europe to accept the Pragmatic Sanction which would assure his daughter her legal right to succeed him. Within months of his death, Frederick of Prussia had annexed Silesia, and the Elector of Bavaria had invaded Bohemia, eventually being crowned King in Prague Cathedral. Maria Theresia was no ordinary princess and she effectively rallied the Magyars of Hungary to her assistance with such effect that by 1745 she had won back the crown of Bohemia, and had seen her husband Francis elected Holy Roman Emperor.
During the 40 years of Maria Theresia's reign, the Habsburgh Empire grew stable and prosperous, and employed its resources of silver to good effect in trading through Italian and Turkish merchants. The coins used were mainly silver talers from the mints of Hall in the Tyrol, and Vienna. However, in 1764, a new mint was opened at Gunzburg, in the Margravate of Burgau, to counter a flood of low grade German small silver and, more especially, to strike talers for export. These coins were intended to be exactly the same as those from the Vienna mint, except that they had a letter "G" on the reverse below the eagle's tail. Production did not start until the end of 1764, so coins with this date are scarce, but those of the following year are plentiful. In August 1765, however, Francis died and Maria Theresia went into mourning for the rest of her life. On the coinage a new bust appeared, clothed in widow's weeds, and the arms on the reverse were simplified into a fourpart shield, the bottom right quarter of which showed the province in which the mint producing the coin was situated.
At first it appears that the code letters introduced on the coins of Joseph II were also used on those of Maria Theresia, as 1765 coins from Vienna are found with a letter A under the bust, and from Hall with a letter F. Shortly afterwards, however, the system was changed to one showing the initial letters of the names of the mint master and mint warden on the reverse. For some reason, so far unexplained, Gunzburg followed a different rule and the coins show only the initials of the surnames of the mint officials and these appear on the obverse under the bust - S.C. until 1774 and S.F. from 1775 to 1780. With the presence of identifying initials an the coins there was no longer a need to differentiate Gunzburg coins from those of Vienna and consequently the reverse design was changed to omit the letter G. Interestingly, in addition to 1765 coins with the G, and others with S.C. but no G, specimens are known with both. They are fairly common and it seems possible that these are the coins restruck in 1767 from 1.765 dies, especially for export to Turkey.
As trade coins, Maria Theresia talers circulated in many parts of the world, but there are two especial connections with South East Asia in the form of counter marks for Java and for Sumenep on the island of Madura. The Java countermark, consisting of the word Jawa in arabic script in a circular impression, has been known for many years on Dutch gold ducats of the period 1750-59, and on Javan, Surat, Maldivian and Persian silver pieces of roughly the same period. Its appearance, however, on well-worn Austrian coins dated 1765 (but probably not struck until 1767) seems to extend the period of countermarking by at least 10 years if the countermarks are genuine. It is known that they were applied unofficially before 1760, as in that year all countermarked coins were withdrawn for checking and reissue at a lower value. There seem to be two possible solutions. Either countermarking was applied in Java at a later date than 1760 (perhaps during the period 1768-1782 when the mint at Batavia was closed) or that some other local authority used the Java countermark for its own, and so far unknown, purposes at some time after 1770. As more specimens become available for inspection it may be easier to decide on the validity of these possibilities.
The countermark for Sumenep provides another puzzle in that two quite separate designs have been attributed to this town. The first is simply the word Sumenep in arabic script, either (set in a square surround), or (set in an oval surround). The square variety is found only on cob 8 real pieces, some of which also have the date AH(1) 2;35 (1820 AD), while the oval countermarks appear on Dutch coins with dates up to 1822, and on Maria Theresia talers of 1752-65. This period coincides with the end of the British occupation of Java and the closure of the mint at Sourabaya.
The second of the countermarks attributed to Sumenep is one which consists of an emblem rather like three crossed arrows in a shield-shaped or oval depression. This is said to be the badge of the Sultan Paku Nata Nigrat, and is dated ca. 1854. So far, it has been seen on coins dated 1765 to 1805 only, including Maria Theresia talers of Gunzburg mint of 1765 and probably Vienna mint of 1766. No evidence has been quoted to support this attribution, which may be based on a misreading of the relevant Dutch text by the cataloguer of the Fonroberts Collection. It is hoped that the publication of this article may serve to bring to light the existence of further coins or documents which may help to establish the role of this or any other South East Asian countermark on the talers of Maria,Theresia.