February 3rd 2014

Next club meeting Monday 3rd March 2014 – Club Auction

 

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

 

NOTICES

 

Some members have already said they will help. All offers gratefully received by Peter Hall!

 

December Meeting

 

As usual, our December meeting was our Winter Bourse and quiz night. A number of dealer tables were open in addition to our regulars! The quiz, as set by Gavin, was tough as usual – questions and answers provided below - the winner was Michael, with a massive 50%!

 

 

January Meeting

 

The January meeting consisted of our regular high standard of short talks, as detailed below.

 

John – The Mint of Carlisle

 

Prior to John becoming a collector of coins, he had an interest in history which lead to him reading Challis’ A New History of the Royal Mint. John was aware of the Carlisle siege pieces of the 1640’s but Challis spoke of coins struck at Carlisle from the 1100’s! It is believed that the silver mines at Alston (in eastern Cumbria) was used to strike the coins of Carlisle. 1122 is the first year mentioned of Carlisle with coins struck under Henry I. North has the Carlisle mint striking pennies from Type 14 onwards – therefore, if an accurate date can be established for Type 14, the date that the mint opened can be assumed. The mine itself was actually leased to the father of the main mint moneyers for most of its operation – for approximately £5 per year! John proceeded to show us a selection of coins from the Carlisle mint from Henry I through the Anarchy and up to Henry III. In conclusion, John explained that through various reference works, it could be established that the mint (and therefore the mine) was open from approximately 1122 to 1208.

 

Graham – What’s in a Name

 

Graham opened with a slide showing a ‘coin’ with Graham L Kirby stamped into it – stamped by Graham himself as a boy - the nearest he could get from the world of numismatics would be Kirkby from a National Coal Board pay check(?). The next item shown was a 3d token of Lewis Rose – Die Sinker of Miller Street Birmingham – this reminds Graham of his first coin dealer, Mr Rose of Thames Valley Coins in Reading. And finally a (real!) Kirby token – Charles Kirby’s Christmas List, a bonus and dividend check – the dealer laughed when Graham said he had to have it as his name is on it! Researching some of these tokens requires some specialist works, including Hawkins’ A Dictionary of Makers of British Medallic Tickets, Medalets, Tallies and Counters 1788-1910 – a snappy title if ever there was one! A lot of Graham’s research was kindly done by David Pottinger however. Another well-known ‘name’ is that of The Armada – 62,278 tons, 7,666 seamen and 18,529 soldiers across approximately 140 ships (as at 8th May 1588, mustered at Lisbon). Some 65% of these ships where lost, however very few fell to the English and Dutch guns – perhaps less than 10! Numismatically, several medals were struck celebrating the ‘victory’ – however the government assigned this to God rather than the English fleets, the most common inscription being He Blew His Winds and They Were Scattered. The final piece shown was another token commemorating the Armada – a token for Drury Lane Theatre – 1588-1888 Augustus Harris Company Every Evening.

 

Neil – The Eddystone Lighthouses (that which appears on Bun Pennies!)

 

Neil began by explaining that the Eddystone Rocks are a large reef about 12 miles South West of Plymouth Sound. These are submerged by the Sping tides, and sailors greatly feared them, however given their position, it was a long time before anyone tried to put a warning on them. The first lighthouse was built by Henry Winstanley – started in 1696 and lit in November 1698 – incredibly, a French privateer captured Winstanley during construction, but was ordered to release him by no less than Lewis XIV himself with the words ‘France is at war with England, not with humanity’! This was destroyed in 1703 by a big storm – Winstanley was killed as he was in the lighthouse at the time. The replacement, built by John Rudyard was completed in 1709 and lasted until 1755 when it caught fire. One of the keepers died following the fire from lead poisoning – whilst looking up at the fire, he swallowed some molten lead as it fell from the cowling! The lump of metal now resides in the National Museum of Scotland. Again, the replacement tower followed quickly, with construction starting in 1756 by John Smeaton. Smeaton was one of the first civil engineers, and he developed several techniques to ensure that the lighthouse was more durable than its predecessors, including hydraulic lime (a concrete that sets under water), granite dovetailing and marble doweling. The tower was completed and lit in 1759. It cost approximately £16,000 to build and generated an income of £5,000 per year – for almost 120 years! Unfortunately, the rock it was built on started to crumble, so the tower was dismantled and rebuild on Plymouth Hoe, where it still stands today. The current lighthouse was built by James Douglass and completed in 1882. In 1982 the light was automated – flashing twice every 10 seconds with a foghorn blast three times every 60 seconds – the light is visible for 22 nautical miles.

 

 

 

 

 

Peter  – Roman Siliquae

 

Augustus was credited with introducing a system which related quality gold and silver with copper, bronze and brass. Problems arose 100 years later because fluctuations in the supply of precious metals, especially silver – and dealt with by adulterating the silver. The system collapsed in the third century. In the early C4th, Constantine the Great re-introduced quality silver in the form of the Siliqua (1/96 1lb silver) (3gm) - about the same as the earlier denarius. Fractions were also produced in quantity. Gold/ silver/ base metal exchange rates were allowed to float.

 

The silver content of Silquae was maintained and the coins were popular. They feature in many British hoards and in stray finds. Valued for their silver, many coins were later cut down to early ‘Dark Age’ coin weight (~0.8gm) and these are also common. Reverses are limited in scope but the obverses are not. Emperors came and went, but almost were all recorded in the coinage and their areas of influence could be fixed through the mintmark.

 

Constans (~348 AD) murdered in 350: 3 gm, Trier Mint

 

Jovinus (411 AD) usurper, executed in 413:

0.8 gm, Arles Mint

 

From late C5th coin hoards: 0.7-1.0gm

 

 

 

 

The Mark Myhill Memorial Shield, awarded for the best talk, was won by John.

 

A summary of Tim Everson’s talk on Tokens of Surrey and Southwark will follow with the auction results next month.

 

 

                                                                                                                        Club Secretary.