Next club meeting Monday 3rd November 2014.
·
Banknotes of Yugoslavia, Now
and Then By (our very own) Alistair.
Meetings are held
at the
|
It is with deep sorrow
that we report that Frank Milward passed away on Wednesday 1st
October. A minutes silence was observed for Frank at the October meeting and
we send our condolences and best wishes to Val, Chris and the rest of his
family. |
Notices
·
The
Xmas dinner is booked for 18.30
on Sat 13 December 2014 at The Cunning Man. The cost is
expected to be £20 person. We will probably be on two tables and we have to
pre-order two weeks before. Note that coffee/ mince pie can be chosen in place
of a dessert. Please let us know if you want to come by phone, e-mail or at the
November meeting.
Address:
Burghfield Rd, Burghfield Bridge, Reading RG30 3BR
Phone: 0118
959 8067
http://www.vintageinn.co.uk/thecunningmanburghfieldbridge
·
Please continue thinking about Short Talks for
January, and Auction lots for March!
October Meeting
The meeting began
with notices and a minutes silence was held for Frank.
Mick then took the floor
to talk about the History of Bank of England Tokens. Mick started by asking the
question ‘what happened to our coinage from the mid-18th C to the
early 19thC?’.
The paucity of
issues between these two can be explained by the fluctuating price of silver,
versus the fixed rate of 62 shillings per pound and the inability of the people
in charge to decide on the best method of remedying this, lowering the fineness
or reducing the weight.
In part the rise in
the price of silver was due to the uncertainty in World events at the time,
driving people with wealth to preserve it in such tangibles as precious metals
and also the Governments need to finance wars with tangible assets, such as
silver. Naturally, the existing coinage, now worth more as scrap, was being
melted down to make matters worse.
The advisors on
coinage matters at this time were the Privy Council and the Committee on Coins.
Members of the Committee on Coins were mostly from the gentry and had no idea
of the actual uses of coinage in commerce, since they lived mainly on credit –
not always paying their bills! Meetings of the Committee were very poorly
attended, often only by the Chairman. Politically, it was easier for the
Committee to do nothing and substantially this is what they did.
Because of this
inactivity, people tried to solve the problem in other ways, the first being
the issue of Bills of Exchange, the most popular being those issued by the Bank
of England, which were backed by gold. Unfortunately, the wars with France
undermined confidence in these and when people tried to cash in the notes for
gold the Government prevented them whilst they sort another solution, the
Government needing the gold to finance the war. Also forgery was rife with the
Bills.
In fact during this time the Bank of England had a
large number (millions) of ‘pieces of eight’ which they wanted to recoin to
alleviate the shortage of coin but the Committee on Coins would not allow them
at any rate other than 62s per pound. The alternative, circulating the coins as
they were, was also vetoed on the grounds that they were not British! The
Government eventually stepped in to break the deadlock and allowed the reales
to circulate as long as they were countermarked with the King’s Head (a
standard mark) for the value of 4s 9d. Some 2.3M were circulated.
Three problems
arose with this, manufactured forgeries – some extremely good, altered Reales
when the price of silver allowed and finally a slump in the value of silver
meant that forgers had even more incentive. It got to the point where fake
silver was being countermarked by the Bank and to avoid a panic the Bank wanted
to recoin the existing coins and they insisted on doing it at 66s per pound,
knowing the Committee would not agree. This gave them the excuse to withdraw the
coins. In total the countermarked coins only circulated for nine months.
Some time passed
before a third guinea was issued, in gold, but was probably used for the army,
as most gold was. Eventually a second issue of countermarked Reales was issued,
this time the countermark was from the Maundy penny, which should have meant
that spotting fakes was easier but often the countermark was a weak strike.
Meanwhile in
Birmingham Mathew Boulton looked at the problem and knew he could improve
things but faced considerable problems overcoming objections from the Royal
Mint who were still not happy with Boulton for getting the contract for the
Cartwheel penny. He submitted a pattern known as the Garter dollar. The obverse
was accepted but the Bank wanted the reverse to show to show their seal – this
is the well known 1804 Bank dollar. Several varieties exist, some of which Mick
showed. The coins were struck in such a way that it is just possible to see the
Reales design as a shadow, which served as a counter forgery device. They
continued being produced till 1815 and forgeries exist. The Privy Council
finally decided to do something and authourised the Bank to issue tokens for
3/- & 1/6d. Struck by the Royal Mint these circulated for a few years after
the great recoinage of 1816.
Subscriptions
Be reminded that
subscriptions are now due. It would be most appreciated if members yet to renew
their subscription would please do so at the next meeting. Please see our treasurer
Peter. For anyone who does not pay their subs, this is the last issue of the
newsletter they will receive.
Future Events.
- London Coin Fair – Bloomsbury, London – 1st
November
- Birmingham Coin Fair - National Motorcycle museum
– 9th November
Past Events
Ten years ago in 2004, Alistair spoke on “The Gods”
Club
Secretary.