Author: BNS Blog Coordinator

Have Dies – Will Travel, Paul Withers

In late December of 2022 Paul Withers received an e-mail from Dr Jörn Schuster, FSA MCIfA, a Consultant Archaeologist and Finds Specialist, asking for help on a coin-weight discovered during the excavations carried out for the extension of the Dorset Museum in Dorchester. This article tells the story of that weight. The shape of a coin-weight is important, sometimes revealing its origins. This recent find from Dorchester shows connections between weights made in France, the Netherlands and Britain, or made in one place and exported to the others.

A False Greyhound Countermark Revisited – Gary Oddie

The coin presented here is a base shilling of Edward VI with a greyhound countermark that was recently offered for sale at auction without provenance and then withdrawn. The author recognised the piece as ex R.C. Lockett and traces its earlier provenance back through H. Webb Jr, T. Bliss and R.A. Hoblyn in 1906. Genuine countermarks are presented for comparison and other specimens with the false countermark are presented from F. Pridmore, the Forgery Cabinet at Baldwin’s and the British Museum. The latter has a ticket connecting the piece to the well-known counterfeiter and creator of concoctions in the early 1840s, Edward Emery.

A Contemporary Counterfeit of an Edward the Confessor Pyramids Penny of Wulfgar of London – Gary Oddie

The coin described here is an unusual class XVb (head facing left) pyramids type penny of Edward the Confessor. The metal appears base, and XRF analysis confirms just 28% silver. The piece is likely a contemporary counterfeit and has a provenance from L.A. Lawrence by private treaty in 1902-3 and then the Lord Grantley sale of 1944. Lawrence had seen a second example, which has not yet been traced.

Aodh Mór Nach Glacadh Airgead, d. 1407: a strictly amonetary medieval chieftain of West Connacht – Oisín Mac Conamhna

An unusual article in that rather than being about coins, it is about the absence of coins – specifically about an Irish chieftain, recorded as Aodh Mór Nach Glacadh Airgead (Aodh the Great Who Did Not Accept Money) who lived as late as 1407. He appears as a late, if not the last, holdout as a monetary refusenik Irish chieftain. And by him, the final adoption, or at least the final acceptance, of coinage throughout Gaelic Ireland may be dated to 1407 at the earliest.

Edward I class 1a pennies with a forked crown – Denis Martin

In the last few years more coins have emerged displaying a peculiar variation in the crown on the obverse of the Edward I class 1a type. This unusual so-called “forked crown” is found on only a relatively few examples and little comment can be found in the easily accessible literature. The author has decided that it is time for a review of the situation and has made an attempt to gather as much data as possible with the object of producing a Corpus of the known forked crown coins.

An Enigmatic Commonwealth Farthing – Tracing Edward Rowland’s Patterns of 1652 – Gary Oddie

This note presents a farthing with the legends PITTY THE POOR 1652 / SVCH GOD LOVES ER (Williamson Uncertain 76, Peck 369). Contemporary documents confirm that this is a pattern issued by Edward Rowland to support a petition to Parliament to issue a base metal token coinage. Edward Rowland is identified as a wealthy goldsmith, with premises close to Blossom’s lane that were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666.

A Die Study of James I Shillings – Second Issue, mm Book – Gary Oddie

Previous die studies have covered the third issue shillings (mintmarks Spur Rowel, Rose, Thistle, Lis and Trefoil) and the second issue (mintmark Plain Cross). This note tackles another of the rarer mintmarks, the Book, sometimes called Book on Lectern. The three obverse and two reverse dies were more than sufficient to strike the silver that resulted in the 9s 2d at the Trial of the Pyx on 15th May 1618. PREVIOUS ARTICLES BY GARY ODDIE ON JAMES I … A Die Study of James I Shillings – Second Issue, mm Plain Cross (Link) A Die Study of James I Shillings – Third Issue, mm Spur Rowell (Link) A Die Study of James I Shillings – Third Issue, Sixth Bust, mm Rose (Link) A Die Study of James I Shillings – Third Issue, Sixth Bust, mm Lis (Link) A Die Study of James I Shillings – Third Issue, Sixth Bust, mm Thistle (Link) A Die Study of James I Shillings –

read more A Die Study of James I Shillings – Second Issue, mm Book – Gary Oddie