September 2006.

Next club meeting - Monday 2nd. October 2006.

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

September meeting

Phillip Mernick gave a talk on Early Jetons.

Jetons were not coins but tools to be used on a table for reckoning (counting and calculations) known in German as Rekning Pfennig, in English as counters, in French Jetons. Up to the 13-15th Century Roman numerals used but gradually Arabic numerals were introduced which facilitated complex calculations.

Philip then showed a series of slides to illustrate his talk

Roman numerals were used thus

Similar to a bead frame or abacus. A skilled operator can work about as fast as a man with a calculator. A great advantage was that it was visual so could be viewed by a number of people.

In a book called "The Dialogus" (on calculating) Foreign coins were used.

Jetons were made in different countries at different periods

Tokens were also made for export in prodigious numbers and are found in many places, including this country.

Phillip showed slides of typical 13th century Englih, French and later Italian Jetons.

Generally, English tokens have a small central hole - probably made during manufacture as always in the centre of the flan rather than the centre of the design. Philp then showed a series of slides showing the progression of punches corresponding to coin types. Some have Sun and Moon (Plantagenet emblems) -some jetons reflect classes of Edward I to Edward II pennies. Die design became simpler with legends represented by ornaments. Some reverses having heads in the quarters such as King's heads and became more ornate. Some obverses show a head with a bishop's hat (Church jetons), some have the Royal Arms on the reverse. Such pieces can be dated by the arms. Another series has roses on the obverse (in the reign of Edward III) others have the monarch seated on a throne or standing in an arch - others have lions or roses. The reverses begin to acquire legends during the reign of Edwrd III - wardrobe counters.

French jetons often have a portrait of the King with arms or initials (as coins) and can sometimes be dated by the Queen's arms. Some even copied Roman coins, or displayed the Lion of Venice, or a tablet with inscription (Dutch Ducats). Philip also showed a series of slides of various European types such as Nuremburg jetons showing Imperial orb and cross the other side having a crown with circle around(Hans Krawinkel) and jetons of Flanders with various historical pictures or symbols. French types have heraldic animals.

Also shown were a series of Dutch and French medallic jetons, with views of forts, cities, biblical designs and those used by the Chambres de Commerce. Those in the Ordinaire des Guerres show the progress of war. Some are dated 18thC- some have Royal portraits. One German made series showed Royal portraits from Charles I to William & Mary and later. Phillip finished his talk at this point but said that there was a huge field of later jetons - Equally diverse and interesting but outside the scope of his talk.

Summer Social

This year 11 members made their way to the National Museum of Wales to see some aspects of the coins and medals in their collection. Our host for the day was the curator of the coins, Mr Edward Besly, who is well known in numismatic circles.

To begin our visit Mr Besly gave a thirty minute talk on the history of the use of coins & tokens in Wales, there being some periods where coins were simply not used and which no doubt accounts for the lack of finds. Next Mr Besly talked about the coins in the excellent coin gallery, which starts with representative selection of Greek & Roman coins and carries on up to the present day. Tokens, medallions and medals are also included. Of particular note are the two excellently displayed civil war coin hoards which Mr Besly talked not only about the coins themselves but also how they came into the custody of the Museum.

Overall not only does the gallery have some interesting coins to view but the layout is very pleasing and informative. The gallery is well worth a visit and hopefully this type of presentation will help promote an interest in coins amongst the younger generation.

We then split into three groups to go behind the scenes and examine some of the reserve collection, namely civil war coins, Roman coins and Welsh tokens. In the afternoon after negotiating the delights of Cardiff’s complex traffic systems we took lunch at Mermaid Quay, especially noted for its vehicle congestion. Overall a very enjoyable day out.

Next year Mr Besley is one of our guest speakers.

Past Events

30 years ago, Patrick Finn of Spink and Son gave a talk on Irish Coins of James I

20 years ago, Albert Byde gave a talk entitled "Berkshire Metallic Tokens since 1820 and their issuers - an Interim Report".

10 years ago, Dave McGurk spoke on "An Introduction to Chinese Coins"

Future Events.

Midland Coin Fair. Sunday 10th September at the National Motorcycle Museum.

Bloomsbury Auctions Thursday 14th September, Bloomsbury House London

Spinks Auctions (The COINEX Sale) 26-27th September

Baldwins Coin Auctions - 25-26th September, Holiday Inn, Bloomsbury

St. James Auctions - 27th September, Holiday Inn, Bloomsbury

DNW Auction - 27-28th September

Coinex at Earls Court Conference Centre - 29-30th September