September 5^th 2011

Next club meeting Monday 3^rd October 2011

• Coins of the British Empire By C Moore – Please note that we have been informed that the subject of this talk may change

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

NOTICES

• It is planned to hold the Christmas dinner on Saturday 26th November at the Hatch Gate, Burghfield. For those interested in attending please check your diaries so you are ready to sign up when the listing is posted at the club meeting in October.

September Meeting

This was a talk on the Siege Coins of Charles I by Tony Travis. We were due to have Part 2 of this talk, but unfortunately this was not the case due to external influences. Given that it was almost three years since Part 1 was delivered to us, a refresher was most welcome!

Charles I was born on 19^th November 1600 in Dunfermiline, son of James VI of Scotland (later James I of England). He believed in the Divine Right of Kings which caused clashes with Parliament. During the Civil War Parliament forbade colleges (particularly Oxford and Cambridge Universities) to donate silver plate to the King and managed to intercept some shipments. However, the rest went to the King, which he converted into coin to pay his troops. Officially, silver pounds were given to Colonels and above, half pounds to other officers and crowns to soldiers – although this may not have always been the case!

Tony carried on by particularly looking at the sieges of Carlisle and Newark. Sieges were usually successful because the defenders ran out of food. Carlisle for example, was never assaulted but surrendered when the Garrison was starving. People were instructed to bring their plate to the Castle, where it was made into coin. Some 4000 pieces of 1 shilling were struck, so it is surprising how rare they are today.

The siege of Newark was rather different, it was the key to the battle for the North. In 1643 Parliamentary forces attacked the town unsuccessfully. In 1644 the Scots attacked the North as allies of Parliament. The Royalists then occupied Newark with about 2000 troops and were besieged by about 7000 Parliamentary troops from 1644 to 1645. Again plate was collected and struck into halfcrowns, shillings, ninepences and sixpences. Some coins were struck on gilt plate, some even bear the original hallmarks (leopard’s head) and there is evidence that the coins were still being made after the siege ended. It is very difficult to determine what may be designated contemporary forgeries and genuine coins. It may be that many described as contemporary copies are in fact originals. A couple of years ago the prices of these coins rose very rapidly but have fallen back a bit recently.

The end came when the French got involved in peace negotiations and Charles surrendered to the Scots. The Scots handed him over to Parliament who tried and executed him in 1649. Parliament then abolished the Monarchy.

Members then put several questions to Tony, many asking about how the coins were produced. It appears they were cut using large shears. Despite this, very good quality control was maintained, especially with regard to weight. Thank you to Tony for a very interesting talk.

Future Events

• Coins, Stamps and Collectables - Charing Cross Market, London – every Saturday!
• Baldwins Official Coinex Auction, London – 4^th October
• British Trade Tokens, DNW, London – 5^th October
• Midland Coin Fair, Birmingham – 9^th October

Past Events

• 1 years ago – “Charles I Halfcrowns” – Maurice Bull

· 10 years ago – Short talks by club members

· 40 years ago – “Numismatics and the Wine Trade” – Peter Clayton

Club Secretary