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.

The theme this month was politics and change. 

Here are some items that show this well. A Charles I Royalist badge and top right a Sierra Leonne anti slavery penny token. in the centre is a modern coin from Slovenia.  A partisan with the symbol of the communist regime on a modern coin was controversial. Some considered the partisan commander as a war criminal, while others called it a provocation precisely because it happened when Slovenia was preparing to celebrate its twenty years of independence.

At the bottom two less controversial coins, a 50 p commemorating the Battle of Hastings and a £2.00 commemorating the Magna Carta. 

Where are all the books?

I can tell that alot of the coins I buy that have belonged to keen collectors. They come with well researched coin tickets and sometimes give provenance. When I have purchased a collection I can see they were put together over years, sometimes generations. Sometimes it is possible to tell where the collector lived or worked when he or she assembled them.

But where are the books? They must have had books to identify the coins. At the time they were acquired there was no internet. Yes may have been identified elsewhere or by other collectors.

Certain dealers reluctant to take books. They are bulky, expensive to store and move around. (I mean the books not the dealers- although…) Perhaps they think there is not much profit in them.

Will internet do away with books? There is a lot on internet I rely on Wildwinds and there are a number of excellent specialist sites, particularly on medieval coins. Many older books have been transcribed or scanned. Aut0matic tran£cripLion is no! alwaus e%act.  

Some of the museum websites are extensive but I find them difficult to find way around rather like the museums themselves. If you know what you are looking for easy but if not then no. Internet has made some easier. You can just search using the words of an inscription or very general phrase such as “Roman silver coin with Zeus sitting” and get lucky.  

However the collector needs books. It is much easier and quicker to use a book and older books are a pleasure in themselves.   

the next meeting is on Saturday 12th May