April 20th 2020.
All meetings are cancelled for the foreseeable future.
Notices
- Due to the Corona virus we are unable to hold
club meetings. It is proposed to carry on sending out a Newsletter to keep
members informed of any changes. We will provide a series of articles from amongst
our membership which will be included in each Newsletter.
- The club will restart as soon as practical, current
thinking being that that may not be until September. There will NOT be a
Summer social unless events take an appreciable turn for the better.
- In view of the loss of meetings the committee considers
it appropriate to waive the membership fee for EXISTING members for the
2021-2022 season.
- The remaining speakers for this season will be
rescheduled for next season.
- Re Parking: The Abbey Baptist Church is closed until
further notice and the staff and congregation are working from home, plus
the fact that our regular contact has retired. We hope to
have further discussion about parking when things return to normal.
- The committee
also needs members. Please consider joining, it is not fair to
leave the running of the club to the same small number of members every
year. If you are willing to become a
member of the committee please notify one of the
current committee.
April article Coin handling at the Ashmolean.
Thank
you to Peter for our first couple of member contributed articles.
Two
Club members help the Ashmolean Museum by manning the Hands-on Coins desk
in the Money Gallery. Some 14 coins are made available for visitors (under
supervision) to handle guided by experts with cheat notes.
.. is it a bear
?
This
is one of the commonest questions asked by visitors about this coin.
|
|
The answer is sad but first some background. The
coin, in the name of Otacilia Severa,
was authorised by her husband, the Roman emperor Philip, to commemorate the Saecular Games the games held in 248 CE celebrating the
1,000th anniversary of the foundation of Rome. The IIII on the coin tells us
it was made in the fourth officina, or workshop, in
the mint reserved for coins of Otacilia. Philip had become emperor after the assassination of
his predecessor in 244. He and his family died in 249 following a successful
revolt by Trajan Decius, one of his generals. |
So,
it was sad for Philip and his family but what about the bear? Its a hippopotamus, and represents one of the thousands
of animals sent to Rome for mass slaughter in the Coliseum during the Saecular Games.
Another
silver antoninianus of Marcia Otacilia Severa, celebrating the Saecular Games (248).
Nasir
al-Din Shah
Chances
are that you have never heard of Nasir al-Din Shah! So why are there two
of his silver coins in the 14 coins available for visitors to handle? -
Actually, I have no idea!
|
The
coins date from AD1869 and 1870. Both coins tell you in Persian that they are
issued by Nasir al-Din, son of the previous King, Defender of the Faith, all
in beautiful in calligraphy. They are handmade. The reverses of the coins
tell you in Arabic where they were minted obliquely The abode of the
Sultanate (Isfahan) and The Holy Territory of the [martyred] Imam Ali,
peace by upon Him (Mashad), and minting dates -
AH1286 and 1287 - an inheritance of the mid-7th Century Muslim
conquest. |
|
|
|
Probably more
interesting than the coins is the real-life Nasir al-Din Shah. He ruled
Persia between 1848 and 1896 (when he was assassinated) but his authority was undermined by local tribal leaders. Unable to
regain the territory lost to Russia, in 1856
Naser al-Din seized Herat, whose leader had decided to switch allegiance to Great Britain. The
British declared war, which resulted in the
recovery of Herat as well as Persia's recognition of the Kingdom of
Afghanistan, an important British objective. Nasir al-Din was the first modern Persian
monarch to visit Europe and, in 1873, he was appointed a Knight of the Order
of the Garter by
Queen Victoria, the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system - outranked in precedence only by holders
of the Victoria Cross and the George Cross. He
was amazed with the technology he saw during his travels in Europe, including
the manufacture of coins by machines, which he adopted on return to Persia. |
Past Events
·
10 years ago An
Introduction to Indo-Greek coinage - Mr S Bhandare
·
20 years ago "Finds of Roman Coins: Their significance to
Archaeology" - Jill Greenaway
·
40 years ago
Members evening and coin fair
Club Secretary.