Next club meeting Monday 6^th October 2014.

· The History of the Bank of England Tokens By (our very own) Mick.

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

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 October 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!

August Meeting

Gerry began by noting that even coin collectors are aware of jetons and how as a young boy he bought his first one for 3/6. Later when he had a stall at Hungerford Lane in the 1980s he realised how widespread they were and he began to collect and study them. Their purpose was to perform calculations, as Roman numerals were very cumbersome to use. They worked on the same basis as an abacus.

As we all gathered around he showed, using his own version of a counting board, how the calculations were done. The board is split into two, so each number could be placed on one side and the counters then manipulated. The board could be used for numerical calculations or for calculations involving money. Numbers are represented by placing them on a series of lines, each with a unit value, ones, tens, hundreds etc. In the case of addition, the calculation proceeds from the lowest units to the larger, with counters being amalgamated from the two numbers onto one side of the counting board. When enough counters collected on a line they could be removed and a single counter placed in the line above, to represent the higher value. We were treated firstly to the addition of 1024 and 3593 the answer – 4607 – was pretty close for a first go around. Gerry then proceeded to subtraction (start from the largest units) and then financial calculations, including fractions of £sd.

One thing which became clear in the course of the demonstration was that a large number of jetons were needed and consequently, jetons were always provided in sets. This also explains why so many of them are found. Gerry thinks it unlikely they were used as small change, because the accountant would want a full set but it is easy to imagine that over time as jetons were accidentally lost the remaining ones may have circulated as low value coin.

The earliest jetons were French from 1250 carrying on till 1450, English jetons were made between 1250 and 1400 but after that manufacture moved to France. A special set of jetons called the Wardrobe jetons were used for Exchequer/Royal accounting and some jetons were produced in Italy. Eventually the Germans started making jetons in Nuremburg and ended up with a monopoly of jeton production till they went out of use about 1600.

Gerry showed us pictures of some of the earliest jetons which often had some sort of cross on the reverse. English jetons which came along about 30 years later were made from the same punches as the pennies of the same period, often showing a Sterling head. They had central piercing, to distinguish them from circulating coinage (if a counterfeiter silver washed them) and central piercing is a good way to tell if a jeton is English. A good indicator of the date of the jeton is from the detail of the crown for the Sterling types, other identifiers include the detail of the border. Many types exist and probably many more are to be discovered, Gerry showed pictures of several and gave Heraldic descriptions of them.

Gerry then went on to describe the Wardrobe jetons, which are much rarer than the others and come in a much smaller number of types. These jetons are bigger than the others, being about the size of an old Bronze penny. Manufacture of jetons in Britain had ceased by the end of the 14 Century.

Gerry next went on to study the evolution of jetons in France. At first these exhibited either a cross, the shield of France or a Fleur-de-Lys on the obverse and never had a legend. Examples like this are reasonably rare. Later on the jetons came to more closely copy coinage designs, for example the King under a canopy.

Later on still, jetons started to have legends, many based on religious tracts. Some have legends indicating that they were not genuine coins. Several types of jetons were issued for use in the Royal household. Another interesting type was the IHS (Jesus Christ Saviour of Man) which was known as the ‘Black Death’ type, since the invocation of Christ was supposed to protect the owner. Legends and designs later came to be specific to the region/country in which the jetons were to be used.

Gerry finished the talk by discussing jeton values. The standard work by Mitchener seems to overvalue the tokens and something like a quarter Mitchener seems nearer the mark. English jetons go for £15-£30 for a Sterling type, others are £25-£50 in reasonable condition. Wardrobe jetons £50-£150. French jetons can be found in junk boxes in this country but cost much more in France. Nuremburg tokens are similar to French about £1 a piece.

An extremely interesting talk very well illustrated throughout.

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, the October issue of the newsletter will be the last they receive.

Future Events.

• World Paper Money Fair, Bloomsbury Hotel – 3^rd to 4^th October
• Token Congress, Northampton Hilton – 3^rd to 5^th October
• Bloomsbury Coin Fair – Bloomsbury, London – 4^th October
• Birmingham Coin Fair - National Motorcycle museum – 12^th October
• Croydon Coin Auction – 28^th October

Past Events

Ten years ago in 2004, Tim Millet spoke on “Convict Tokens”

Club Secretary.