Programme for 2018 to 2019

Welcome to the new programme for next year. 

Here are some coins to illustrate some of the varied topics for next year.  

The coins of Austria which include parts of Netherlands and Italy I would like to know more about. 

The medalet at the bottom commemorates the Aylesbury War Memorial which was built in the 1920s after  a lot of discussion on how the fallen should be remembered. It was built by ex servicemen. 

the top middle token is from the King's Head in Aylesbury. 

15 September Hairstyles for men and women  

13 October Harvest and food on coins

10 November Europe at peace and war.

8 December Austria, Austrian Netherlands and Austrians in Italy

12 January anniversaries in 2019 beginnings and endings

16 February Token tales 

23 March Medallions

20 April Ancients

11 May coins and tokens of Ireland

15 June Peace treaties and alliances

13 July Queens and duchesses of Europe.

17 August The penny and copper coins

Next week's meeting will be about coins from the Far East. What will members bring?
Here are a few modern coins to be going on with

Modern coins

I recently asked people where I live if they had any foreign coins they no longer needed. The idea was to raise money for a charity.

What I got gives me a good idea of where people go on holiday. The coins were mainly euros which I convert into cash quite easily and holiday destinations such as Croatia. There were also a few Canadian, Israeli and Gulf states.

What strikes me is the standard of design of many countries’ coins is very high. gone are the cheap aluminium, iron and dull coins featuring a tractor. (I have nothing against tractors!). Countries celebrate their culture and history much more. 

So, take a deep breath, should you collect modern? Why not? The advantages are they are cheap in good condition and interesting. I suppose every coin ever collected was a modern coin once. Perhaps the angels, testoons, drachmas and the rest were all sniffed at by some collectors as “too modern”!

So what is modern? One website said anything after 1950. I am not so sure. Modern is anything in circulation now, surely. Not convinced? I suspect every collector keeps some coins that he or she just likes. Here are some modern Bulgarian coins to be going on with. 

Random thought for today.

Some numismatic sites publish excellent articles on history and coins. The essays are informative and well illustrated. They give background information on historical events and subjects. However the coins that are used for illustrations are usually museum quality pieces. why not illustrate these articles with the sort of coins that collectors have?

Just a thought.

The theme of the next meeting is French coins

How do you like your coins?


Silly question, I suppose. Most people see a coin in an auction catalogue or list. It is well illustrated and described with the reference numbers from the standard texts. In 9 out of 10 cases no surprises, you get exactly what it says on the tin. It is rare for coins to be wrongly identified or catalogued.

But what is the fun in that? I like a challenge. the pleasure for me is going to a dealer with no idea of what is likely to be on offer, some weeks nothing at all and other times plenty on offer. My last purchases were  a Gibraltar token of  1818, a 1 skilling overstruck on a coin of the previous century and a double liard from 1709 in the Spanish Netherlands. the double liard is quite rare as is the Gibraltar token.

These were all fairly easy to identify. some weeks I pick out the coins I have never seen before and require a bit of research. that for me is the pleasure of collecting; finding researching and learning. perhaps I am rarity.

The theme for the next meeting is women on coins. 

Here are some random coins. What would you have chosen? 

Modern 50 p commemorating votes for women. Coin of Hadrian showing a sad Britannia

Hadrian's wife, Sabrina and a modern example of Britannia looking a bit more cheerful. 

A jetton commemorating Queen Elizabeth's help to the Dutch protestants. a marriage medalet of Charles I and Henrietta.

A jetton of Louis XIV and his wife and an unknown couple.