Author: BNS Blog Coordinator

The Langford, Bedfordshire, Hoard 2016, and the Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, Hoard 1892 – Hugh Pagan

This records two very similar hoards of Anglo-Saxon coins containing coins of Alfred of Wessex and of Archbishop Plegmund of Canterbury, one found at Langford, Bedfordshire, in 2016, and the other at Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, in 1892, and discusses the evidence for their dates of deposit. The content of the Langford hoard has not as yet been formally published, and the summary listing of it offered here will be helpful for the wider numismatic community.

A Millenium of Numismatics at Hexham Church – Gary Oddie

This Blog began as a simple description of three skilfully engraved silver coins, each showing a view of Hexham church and dated 1830 and 1833. Each of the pieces has an engraved name, but with too many local possibilities, they are unlikely to be identified with certainty. Whilst searching for events at the church during this period, a completely unexpected numismatic connection was made. On Monday 15 October 1832 the Hexham hoard of about 8,000 Northumbrian Stycas was discovered. The hoard had been deposited c.865. At the time the discovery was reported in local newspapers across the country. The discovery and contents of the hoard were published in 1833. The first specific appearance of the hoard in numismatic literature was in J.D.A. Thompson’s Inventory of British Coin Hoards of 1956. The dates on the engraved coins may be just the result of a local engraver creating mementos or may have some significance relating to the closure of the church for

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Countermarked 1811-12 Silver Shilling Tokens – Gary Oddie

The Mint had issued no sensible quantities of silver coin since the late 1750s. In 1811-12 many tradesmen and bankers issued silver tokens, sufficiently light to avoid the melting pot, and these worked hard and went, in a small way, to satisfy the needs of the issuers and their customers. Some of these silver tokens received countermarks. The survival of three worn tokens from three different issuers, but all bearing the same countermark, gives insight into the state of the circulating silver tokens  around the time of the silver Recoinage of 1816-17. If anyone has any silver coins, tokens, slap tokens or foreign silver bearing this exact countermark, the author would be pleased to hear.

An Unusual Coin Ticket and a Lead Token: a singular connectivity – David Rampling

The collector gains inspiration and enthusiasm for the acquisition and study of coins and medals from many sources. Whilst chief among these are numismatic texts, catalogues and mentors, seemingly unrelated and serendipitous experiences may impinge upon the mind, and forge a link with numismatic musings. This confluence of ideas can have a productive outcome, as I hope is the case in the example offered in this note.

How to Make a Seventeenth-Century Token – Gary Oddie

This Blog presents practical experiments relating to the manufacture of seventeenth-century tokens. New token dies have been cut, a screw press set up with realistic weights added to the arms, blanks cut and tokens struck. The experiment has been instrumented so that the die movement and striking force can be measured. The force is measured to be about 20 tonnes and with this set-up the natural frequency allows a token to be struck every four seconds. The practicalities and costs of seventeenth-century token manufacture are discussed.

Bedfordshire Tokens, Tickets, Checks and Passes – Supplement 2 – Gary Oddie

This is a second supplement to Bedfordshire Tokens, Tickets, Checks and Passes. These are mostly time/tool/pay checks from the county’s heavier industries in Bedford and Luton. The most important additions are two specimens of an anonymous lead token found at Pertenhall, at the very north of Bedfordshire, on the border with Northamptonshire and the old Huntingdonshire. The design of the token is unusual in that it bears a head in profile. The tokens are from the same moulds, found a few metres apart over a two year period. This is unlikely to be a coincidence and suggests that these lead tokens are of very local manufacture and use.

Two Shillings From Guadeloupe – Or Are They? – Gary Oddie

The coinage of the Caribbean in the early 19th century was a mixture of pieces from many countries. The coins were often countermarked to allow them to pass. Most are very rare and this has resulted in later concoctions and false marks. This blog presents two such spurious marks and identifies the issuers. The first, on a 1787 shilling, was manufactured by Emile Zay (1830-1909), a coin dealer from Paris. The second, on a Leeds Workhouse shilling token of 1811, was manufactured by S.G. Myers Adams, a die sinker and dental mechanic, based in Leeds.

The Identification of an Enigmatic 12th Century Penny – Robert Page

In April 2024 a unique coin was found near Gloucester and was subsequently recorded via both the PAS and the EMC. In both databases it is listed as a variety of Henry I Type 9; this identification being based on review of the coin by Dr Martin Allen, whose concise note on the coin will be forthcoming in the next volume of the BNJ. In this article I will highlight some interesting points concerning the coin and will suggest a possible alternate identification for this enigmatic penny.