December 19th 2022.
Next club meeting Monday 9th January 2023.
- Subject - Short Talks by Members
Please let me know
if you intend to give a short talk so we can plan things.
Notices
·
Please continue thinking about Auction lots for March.
All lots should be given to Ian, preferably at the January meeting or the February
meeting at the very latest.
·
We now have details of the next BNS season, please ask
for details if you require them.
December Meeting
The
Club meeting in December was 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 20 or
so members attending the meeting. There were four displays this year.
Gavin
was indisposed this year, so Michael devised the quiz. Once again
the quiz was out of 20, there were three winners, with eleven points apiece. The
quiz was multi part with a compulsory first section followed by a pick any two
from three sections to follow. The answers will be in next months newsletter.
The first 10 Questions are compulsory
1 When
was the Reading Coin Club founded ? .
Year
. Month
½ point per answer
2 The
new Charles III 50 pence has what reverse and when was that design LAST used ?
CIII Rev
.. Rev. LAST used
½
point per answer
3 Which are the scarcest
currency Britannia & Commemorative 50 pence according to R.M. mintage?
Britannia 50p
. Commemorative
50p
.. ½ point per answer
4 There has been ONE
Christmas coin issued by the Royal Mint in the UK. What date & denomination
Date
. Denomination
½ point
per answer
5 What
was the date of the British first base-metal decimal currency £1 Coin ? Date
6 How
many sides does our new £1 Coin have and similar to what other British coin ?
Sides
.. Other British coin
½ point
per answer
7 What
did our first modern non-gold £5 commemorate and what was the date ?
Commemorate
. Date
½ point per answer
8 From 1862 to 1967 Florins
were made for currency every single year except for two years
! When ?
Year
Year
..
½ point per answer
9 What coin has got the
nickname of Bar-maids grief. For how any years was it made
?
B-M grief
Years it was made (Dates from)
½ point per answer
10 How
many quarter farthings in £2.12.1d ? Quantity?
Answer
any TWO sections
Section
1 (Earlier British Coins)
1A
The first halfcrown
was issued in whos reign and with what date ?
Reign
. Date
.. ½ point per answer
2A Siege coins were made during Charles I Civil
war but where ?
.
3A
½ point per answer
4A What was the face value of the BROAD
and give any date that they were made or issued ?
Value
.. Date
½ point per answer
5A During Elizabeth I reign the Tower Mint
made coins for the East India Company
The Obverse has E R & Royal Arms
what was on the reverse & the denominations called ?
Denom
Called
.. ½ point per answer
Section
2
(British Banknotes)
1B Date & Month of last white £5 banknote ? Date
Month
½ point per
2B Who is on the back of the last paper ? £5
½ point per answer
£10
. ½ point per answer
3B The Bank of England was founded in what
year and who was the reigning monarch ?
Year
. Monarch
. ½ point per answer
4B What was the highest denomination white
note issued for general circulation in the UK ?
Denomination
5B What was the watermark on the first
Bradbury issue £1 & 10/- notes ?
Section 3
(Foreign
coins)
1C Half Farthings & Third Farthings
were issued for which countries?
½ Farthing
. 1/3 Farthing
.. ½ point per answer
2C Edward VIII coins where issued for which
countries and used as normal currency ?
1
. 2
.. ½
point per answer
(3C) 3
. 4
.. ½ point per answer
4C Where were Kissi
Pennies & Bullet money made and used ?
Kissi
.. Bullet
.. ½ point per answer
5C Which country and in what year is there
a Bird of Paradise on the obverse of the coin ?
Country:
.
Year:
.. ½ point per answer
Section 4
(Foreign banknotes)
1D What country and denomination has SEX
written on the front of their banknote ?
Country
.. Denomination
½ point per answer
2D What is the highest denomination
banknote ever issued for currency in the United States ?
Den
3D Which country and in which year was the first
100 Billion (value) banknote issued ?
Country
. Year
.. ½
point per answer
4D What was the
first European country to issue banknotes and in what year ?
Country
..
Year: (5 years either side)
. ½ point per answer
5D What countries
have KIP & DONG as their currency ?
Section 5
(Greek & Roman)
[Questions by Alistair Mackay]
1E The coins of the Roman colony of Nemausus
(Nimes) bearing the back-to-back portraits of
Augustus
and Agrippa have the reverse type of a crocodile chained to a palm tree.
(an unlikely device for a coin from France!), why?
2E From the reigns of Augustus to Gallienus the reverses of the base-metal coins almost
invariably bear the letters SC, what do these stand
for and why are they there?
3E From 328 to 340 a mint other than
Constantinople used the letters CONS(T) and similar as
a mint signature, where was this?
..
5E The personification Elpis occasionally
appears on Greek coins and frequently on Roman
coins,
by what name was she known as on Roman coins, and what did she represent?
Roman
name
..
Represent
.. ½ point per answer
4E In the
Attic weight system, widely used in classical Greek coins, how many obols were
there
to the drachm?
Members
Displays
There were four show
and tells the first from Graham. He showed us a coin from Amisos,
in the Pontos region of Greece. It is a silver Drachm
from somewhere between 400 and 350BC. The obverse shows the Head of Tyche of
the city left, wearing turreted stephanos, hair rolled.
On the reverse we have an Owl standing facing, on shield, wings spread; and
with sword in sheath to right of owl, seahorse to left, letters below shield. Λo under wing to right, two spearheads under wing to
left.
Graham bought it
from a friend only a few hundred yards from his home. He had hoped to buy a
tetradrachm but ended up with this instead. Intriguingly
it shows the owl head on with wings open. Graham guessed incorrectly where
the piece might come from but his friend assured him
it came from Amisos. It is an attractive and tactile
piece and didnt cost the Earth.
Amisos was founded in the 6th century B.C. and was a
flourishing Greek city on the Black Sea coast commanding an important trade
route to the south. It was re-settled by Athenians in the following century and they renamed the place Peiraeeus.
Next, we had Michael who talked about two of the coins mentioned in his
quiz (spoiler alert!). One of the coins is an extremely rare Broad by Thomas
Simon, with only 2,400 being made. Originally thought to be only patterns, they
are now regarded as currency coins. The other coin Michael brought in was the
late 19C five Mark from New
Guinea, with a splendid portrait of a Bird of Paradise, Michaels favourite
coinage design of all.
Next Stuart showed
some coins he had picked up on a recent trip to Poland, a set of seven silver
coins celebrating the life of Chopin but issued by the Bank of Mongolia! He had
a Kuresh and a quarter Krugerand.
Back in the 1960s South Africa was producing 7-800 tons of gold a year, more
than the combined output of China, Russia and Canada
nowadays. Since then South Africa have dropped to
about 12th in the Worlds gold producers. Another coin had a picture
of the SS Great Britain on it though it was from the Falkland Islands.
Finally, Neil told us about an enamelled
medal he had brought along that interested him because it was for a sailing
yacht. He used to work in a factory that did enamelling and explained that it
was a very difficult process. Coloured glass is added to the raw medal and the
whole fired. It comes out black all over and is then polished with a pumice
stone to bring back the shine. The medal celebrated the Centenary Regatta for
Torbay, in 1913. It was awarded to the Borough Surveyor at the time. He had
also brought along a couple of contemporary postcards of the time, showing a
view of the harbour, including warships.
Xmas Dinner
The Cunning Man being fully booked this year (what recession?) so we retired to The Bull at Streatley, where a dozen of
us celebrated Xmas in the usual fashion, with crackers, turkey, mince pies and
all the usual paraphernalia accompanying entertaining chatter around the table
till it was time for our carriages to be ordered for the trip home. Thank you
to Peter for organising the affair and we look forward to doing the same next
year.
Future Events.
- Midland Coin Fair - National
Motorcycle museum 9th January
Past Events
- The December meeting has traditionally been the Xmas party.
Finally a Merry Christmas and a
Prosperous New Year to All Our Members.
Club Secretary.