December 24th 2019.
Next club meeting Monday 6th January 2020.
Notices
·
Henry asked for volunteers for short
talks by members for the January 2020 meeting. Four volunteers put their names
forward but more are sought. If interested please
contact the Hon Secretary.
·
Please continue thinking about Auction lots for March.
All lots should be given to Ian Pratt, preferably at the January meeting or the
February meeting at the very latest.
·
Apologies were received from John and Michael.
December Meeting
The
Club meeting in December is a members evening: buying and selling, a buffet
supper, a quiz, and presentations by members about interesting coins.
The
buffet supper was organised once again by Henry and was much appreciated by the
30 or so members attending the meeting.
Gavin devised the quiz. As usual it was a bit demanding, nevertheless,
the result was a draw the winners being Neil and Tony. The Club Treasurer was delighted to increase
his typical score by 50% - by getting three correct! The answers to follow next
month.
Two
presentations were given. The first, by
Gavin, was a novel countermarked cartwheel penny he had recently acquired.
BIGGER
CUTLER
5. N KING. ST.
DUBLIN
John
Bigger was a cutler at 36 Bolton St (later 41), Dublin, from 1836 to 1843,
moving to N King St between 1844 and 1849.
Countermarks are also known on Irish pennies and penny tokens.
Graham
gave the second presentation essentially about the small ancient Greek silver
coinage. The smallest displayed was a Ό
obol of the city of Phocaea, the most northern of the Ionian cities on the
Mediterranean coast of modern-day Turkey.
This minute coin (0.18 grams) was minted during the 6th
Century BC. The coin, also called a tetartemorion, was
equivalent to 1/24 of a drachm. Next to it were coins of
varying denomination from minute to small.
The
coinage of Ancient Greece has produced a large number of
denominations under the Attic weight system. Weights ranged from the Dekagram
(43 grams) down to the 1/8 obol (0.9) grams. Graham displayed a range of the
smaller denominations under the banner Small is Beautiful.
Members
thanked Gavin and Graham for their most interesting presentations.
Members
are advised that the meetings: Jan, Feb and March will be held in the Sanctuary
(the Church) as the Abbey Baptist Church provides a home for the homeless
during the winter months.
Xmas Dinner
Once again we returned to the Cunning Man for our December dinner
where 17 current and previous members and partners enjoyed a sumptuous meal,
accompanied by fine wines and plenty of entertaining conversation. People are
already putting a reminder in their diaries for this prestigious event for next
year! Well done to Peter for organizing such an excellent event and we all look
forward to doing it all again next year.
Gavins Quiz (answers
in the next issue)
2.
Which monarch issued English coins in 1557?
3. Name 3
mints other than London used in the Great Recoinage of 1696-7
4. Before
1707 what was one shilling Scots equivalent to in English currrency?
5.
What is the date on Dorrien and Magens shillings?
6. What
tokens were issued in Token House Yard in the City of London?
7.
What do the provenance marks elephant or elephant and castle
signify?
8.
Scottish shillings were issued dated1938 true or false?
9.
The office of Governor of the Mint of Scotland was abolished when
- 1603, 1707, 1817 or 1837?
10. When
was the first English silver crown issued?
11. Copper
farthings were issued dated 1860 true or false?
12. What
is the diameter of the pre-decimal bronze halfpenny?
13. Young
head farthings were issued dated 1895 true or false?
14. Black
finish farthings were issued dated 1896 true or false?
15. Which
monarch issued British coins in 1829?
16. In
which British territory were French coins current until 1830?
17. Where
were Perpers issued?
18. Where
were Sapeques issued?
19. Who
issued the first zinc coins?
20. Where
were Skars issued?
Future Events.
Past Events
Finally a Merry Christmas and a
Prosperous New Year to All Our Members.
Club Secretary.