Author: BNS Blog Coordinator

Bedwyn to (or from?) Watchet: A Remarkable Instance of Die Alteration on a Penny of Edward the Confessor – David Guest, With comments by Stewart Lyon

Instances of pennies in the late Anglo-Saxon period with altered mint signatures are exceedingly rare. This note discusses a Radiate Small Cross type penny of Edward the Confessor of Watchet that was struck from a reverse die showing clear signs of alteration to the mint name. The author argues that the die had first been cut for use at Bedwyn and then altered for use at Watchet. Stewart Lyon was asked to comment on the paper and has kindly supplied an alternative reading.

Coin Hoards

Of potential interest to metal detectorists, as well as numismatists, is a new section on the BNS website section which gives links to BNS papers on coin hoards.  These papers cover the whole British Isles and are sub-divided by county, so it is easy for one to find accounts of hoards from a particular region.  BNS online papers are available for papers published up to three years ago, and currently cover publications up to 2016; papers published in 2017 will soon be added to the online collection.   Visit the BNS Hoards Section  Also of interest is the developing BNS Coin Gallery which is constantly growing – it currently focuses on the period from the Iron Age through to end of the Stuarts, and currently shows mainly English coins, though it is planned this year to add a comprehensive range of Scottish and Irish specimens.  Visit the BNS Coin Gallery For anyone interested in joining the British Numismatic Society please note

read more Coin Hoards

Laurie Asher Lawrence and his First Collection, Part I: Professional Life, Playing Cards, Family, Houses – Hugh Pagan

This note will deal, in two parts, with the professional life and family circumstances of the eminent numismatic scholar and coin collector, Laurie Asher Lawrence (1857-1949) ; and with the evidence that his surviving manuscript catalogue provides for the content of his first coin collection, disposed of by him in 1903.

Exchange of dies between London and Canterbury in the 1290’s – Denis Martin

In a recent article on the BNJ Research Blog David Greenhalgh discusses the possible exchange of a LON/DON reverse die recut to read CAN/TOR.  In reply to a comment posted by Ian Heavisides, David added the following response. “We know that dies were sometimes sent from London to Canterbury and back again when there was a need at Canterbury (the class 6b Cant[erbury] comes to mind)” It is the purpose of this short note to amplify the final comment in the above statement.

Celtic coins published by John White – David Rampling

A late eighteenth century bound compilation of numismatic notes and ephemera in my possession contains illustrations of Celtic coins, along with a handwritten transcript of an accompanying text. The original of these inclusions is a 1773 publication by the notorious John White, of Newgate Street, London. The original publication is very rare, and not readily accessible. In this note I reproduce the coin images, and provide an internet link to the elusive text. White’s publication is of historic interest, and perhaps to some degree balances his tarnished reputation as a producer of counterfeit coins.

British Coins and their links to the West African slave trade – Graham Birch

The topic that I address in my blog piece is to ask the question: “In the light of the current anti-racism protests, should numismatists be concerned about the obvious slave trading associations of certain British coins in their collections?”.  I then go on to examine the origins of the metals which went into the “Elephant” and “Elephant & Castle” guineas (Royal African Company link) as well as the silver coins minted with SSC on the reverse (South Sea Company link).