Author: BNS Blog Coordinator
Manorial money? Three unusual lead tokens from St Mary Bourne, Hampshire – A.G. Bliss
Lead tokens are widespread finds across Britain, with most dating to the post medieval period. However, despite the relatively large numbers that exist, few can be dated closely or associated definitively with specific individuals. This note discusses a highly unusual group of three identical tokens from St Mary Bourne, Hampshire, presenting evidence for their production by a nearby manor controlled by the Priory of Winchester Cathedral.
John Nicholas Cross Collection : Coins in the Names of Eighth and Ninth Century Kings of Northumbria and Archbishops of York – Hugh Pagan
The Bank of England Guard – Gary Oddie
One consequence of the Gordon Riots of 1780 was that the Bank of England was provided with a nightly Guard by one of the battalions of the Household Brigade. This continued until 1973 when the Guard was replaced by armed police. In 1915 a skilful engraver and enameller produced the numismatic memento of the guard presented here that prompted this short note.
A Die Study of James I Shillings – Second Issue, mm Trefoil – Gary Oddie
This note continues the die studies of James I shillings, working backwards through the mintmarks of the second issue. Here the mintmark Trefoil is presented – issued 28th April 1613 to 20th October 1613. Though a scarce mintmark, six different obverse legends have been found (so far). With just one die pair duplicate the statistics are poor, suggesting there are many more dies to be found.
An Unrecorded Anne Shilling Overdate – 1703/2 – Gary Oddie
This note presents a 1703 VIGO shilling of Queen Anne with an unrecorded overdate 3 over 2. My thanks go to Alan Worby of MH Coins for the images and permission to publish. This prompted a quick search to see if any other specimens could be found. Online archives produced images of 74 specimens of sufficient quality to allow a die study of the reverse dies. A statistical analysis of the 16 different dies suggests that the die count is likely almost complete.
A Die Study of James I Shillings – Second Issue, mm Cinquefoil – Gary Oddie
This note continues the die studies of James I shillings, working backwards through the mintmarks of the second issue. Here the mintmark Cinquefoil is presented – issued 20th October 1613 to 17th May 1615.
How to Kill Two Birds with One Stone – Tony Abramson
What at first was thought to be a previously unrecorded sceat, combining a primary phase Series B-related reverse muled with a secondary phase, bipedal animal reverse, was found near Royston, Hertfordshire in late 2022. Research revealed it to be closely related to an unlisted variety recorded in 1986.
Unrecorded White Metal 18th Century Tokens – Part 4 – Gary Oddie
The previous three notes published on the BNS blog highlighted several series of non-contemporary white-metal late 18th century tokens. Essentially all were found to be cast or struck copies, made using moulds or dies created from genuine tokens. At the 2022 Token Congress five further specimens were brought for analysis by Jeff Rock and Merfyn Williams. These are presented here and fit nicely into the groups presented previously, reconfirming there was a small number of prolific counterfeiters of white metal 18th century tokens, mostly in the early 20th century.
Confirmation of a Charles I Tower Sixpence Sub-Variety – John Davidson
This short note shows that Charles I sixpence variety S2812 can include mintmark harp inaddition to portcullis. This had been suggested previously; here, a further coin using the samereverse die confirms the identification.
BNS Research Blog 