This Blog, and parts 2 and 3 to follow shortly, have been produced following a few requests for a permanent record of a talk that I gave at this year’s Token Congress. Each of the slides presented in this first instalment is essentially a summary of a whole talk given at some point in the past 20-30 years. Topics covered include; regal shillings, counterfeit shillings, token shillings, local tokens, world tokens and postal orders.
Author: BNS Blog Coordinator
A Currently Unique Coin of John Digge on Canterbury – Ian Heavisides
A description of a rare and possibly unique Henry III class 5h penny which is attributed to the Archbishop’s moneyer John Digge.
A Contemporary Counterfeit Irish Base Shilling of Elizabeth I, c.1559 – Gary Oddie
This note takes a close look at a counterfeit shilling found in a hoard possibly from Co. Tipperary in Ireland sometime around 1966. The hoard comprised exclusively the base coins (white money) that were circulating in Ireland prior to the introduction of a “fine” (11oz) silver coinage in 1561. These factors leave only a very narrow window for the manufacture of the counterfeit and the deposition of the hoard. A further piece, originally suspected to be another contemporary counterfeit, is shown to be a worn genuine coin.
Isaac Desborough of Eltisley (Cambridgeshire W/D 100) – Gary Oddie
For well over a century the only known example of this seventeenth century token was a very corroded specimen held in the Fitzwilliam Museum. The surname is incomplete but begins DES and the central shield design is too worn to be identified. This is the only “incomplete” Cambridgeshire token to be listed in Searle, Williamson and Dickinson.As part of a project to study the tokens of Cambridgeshire two further pieces have recently been found that allow the description to be completed. Background details of the issuer and his family are presented that make connections to Oliver Cromwell and the witch trials in New England a generation later.
WARNING – Deceptive Medieval Counterfeit Silver – Henry IV Half Groat – Gary Oddie and Dave Greenhalgh
A few weeks ago GO was asked for an opinion on a few medieval hammered silver coins. One piece was a Henry IV light coinage half groat from 1412. From DG’s book Obv. 1. Rev. 4. A unique coin in the British Museum.This note presents XRF analysis of the piece along with eight genuine half groats of the same period. The metal is silver, but trace elements always present in genuine medieval hammered silver (typically Gold ranging 0.3-0.5% and Bismuth 0.01-0.05%) were completely absent from the piece in question.This prompted a much closer inspection that revealed features of the surface that are “not quite right” and eventually traces of where a countermark R had been erased.The piece has been traced to a group of modern replicas, being sold quite openly and correctly as such with the identifying R countermark. However when the replica is damaged, scratched, has its edge filed, the R erased, and is artificially toned, it becomes a
The Posthumous Coinage of Henry III, and the Enigmatic Class 6x – Robert Page
The discovery of another example of a rare type of Henry III posthumous issue prompts this brief discussion and reappraisal of these unusual coins.
A Day at the Museum – Part (ii) Moving The Shillington Hoard – Gary Oddie
This note describes a visit to Stockwood Discovery Centre (The Culture Trust, Luton Museum) by members of the Bedford Numismatic Society. The motive for the visit was to help with the safe removal of the hoard of gold aurei that had been found at Shillington, Bedfordshire, found 1998-1999, along with another hoard of denarii and a bronze mirror found nearby. It was a privilege to be asked and a pleasure to help with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to look at 127 gold aurei dating from AD 14 – AD 79, one of the largest hoards of Roman gold coins found in Britain.
The Kilkenny West, Co. Westmeath, Hoard of Coins of Eadgar – Hugh Pagan
Image: Colonel Sempronius Stretton, a painting by Thomas Barber This note has two primary purposes. The first is to draw the attention of the numismatic community to John Sheehan’s reassignment of the Eadgar hoard’s find spot from Co. Kilkenny to Co. Westmeath. The second is to provide an updated listing of the coins of Eadgar and of other tenth-century Anglo-Saxon rulers offered in the 1855 Stretton sale.
A Henry V or VI York Penny Conundrum – Addendum – Dave Greenhalgh
An update to a recent article I published last month.
BNS Museum Student Placement 2023 – Jennifer Webster
Each year the BNS offers bursaries for Museum placements. All undergraduate and postgraduate students currently studying at a UK university are eligible to apply. The 2023 bursary was hosted by the British Museum, and the attached article describes the succesful applicant’s experience.
BNS Research Blog 