A PhD student researching Northumbrian stycas gives us her impressions and experience of the 16th International Numismatic Congress.
General
Revisiting the Case of Joseph Hunton – Silver Token Issuer and Last Man Hanged for Forgery – Gary Oddie
When originally conceived, this note had a very different title and form, but as the story of Joseph Hunton was uncovered in contemporary newspapers, it took a more serious turn and so is being given a separate article. This note presents the life, career and ultimate downfall of Joseph Hunton, a Quaker and very successful businessman. The original act of forgery of a bill of exchange, his attempt to escape, foiled by the weather and the police chase, his capture and high-profile trial and execution were all laid bare in the newspapers of the time. Though he had started with significant wealth, all of his properties and possessions were taken to pay his debts. Just over three years later an Act of Parliament would repeal the death penalty for such counterfeiting.
Francis Edward Whelan (1848-1907) and the London Branch of the Rollin And Feuardent Firm – Hugh Pagan
The purpose of this note is to bring together in one convenient place what can be established about the career of Francis Edward Whelan (1848-1907), manager of the London branch of the Paris-based coin business Rollin and Feuardent, and for something over thirty years up to his death a major player in the London coin trade.
XRF Analysis of Coins in Slabs etc – Gary Oddie
Measuring the metal composition of a coin using X-ray Fluorescence can be useful in identifying counterfeits. This note presents data testing a portable XRF machine on coins in various plastic holders, including a slab. Using the machine’s built-in interpretation shows that very thin plastic films lead to good results, but anything thicker than about 0.1mm produces questionable results and a 1.66mm slab wall is likely to be incorrect.
Numismatic Graffiti – End the BBC Monopoly – Fight for Free Radio – Gary Oddie
The chance find of two bronze pennies with political graffiti added in white tipp-ex brought back vague memories of pirate radio in the North Sea. I was too young for the original story to register properly, but I do recall the navy raids on the transmitter ships in 1989. Ironically, the subsequent litigation confirmed that pirate radio had been ended by government piracy. The graffiti can be dated to sometime after 19 February 1967 with the formation of the Free Radio Association and its headline message ‘FIGHT FOR FREE RADIO’.
A New Coin from the Collection of Sir Hans Sloane – Andrew Burnett
A recently discovered book annotation allows a unique and spectacular coin of the Roman emperor Severus Alexander, minted by the city of Cyzicus in Asia Minor, to recover its provenance. It belonged to the collection of Sir Hans Sloane, which was to become the founding collection of the British Museum, where the coin can still be found. The MS catalogue of the Sloane collection was lost in the Second World War, so we depend on chance finds such as this for its reconstruction.
Venetian Soldini in England : An Introduction – Josh Cattermole
Not uncommon as metal detecting discoveries in England, the small Venetian soldinii perhaps warrant more attention….
The R.C Lockett Collection – A New Resource on the BNS Website
Cyril Richard Lockett (1873-1950) was the Chairman of William & John Lockett Ltd., shipowners in Liverpool. He commenced collecting c.1906, focussing on the English series, purchasing heavily in the Rashleigh (1909), Carlyon-Britton (1913-18), Walters (1913), Roth (1917-18), Bruun (1925), Huth (1927), Morrieson (1933), Lord Grantley (1943-45) and other collections. From the 1920s his numismatic collecting interests expanded to Greek coins and then continental, Roman and Byzantine coins, building one of the largest and most important numismatic collections in the United Kingdom. His collection of English Milled (Cromwell to Victoria) was sold at Sotheby’s (28 April 1927) and after his death his vast collection was sold by Glendining’s in 14 sales over a seven-year period (1955-1961) to avoid flooding the market. The British Numismatic Society holds Lockett’s own 58 volume manuscript catalogue of his collection. These volumes provide a unique insight into Lockett as a discerning numismatic connoisseur, while documenting provenances of his purchases and his hand-written observations about the coins
read more The R.C Lockett Collection – A New Resource on the BNS Website
The Bank of England and Provincial Banking – Brian Williams
A brief informal account of the development of our banking system, being a résumé of a PowerPoint presentation given recently to the Social History Group section of Bookham U3A.
Some Unusual Coin Measures – Gary Oddie
This note will present a gauge for the diameter of a pre-decimal shilling and a group of similar pieces which are also suspected to be diameter gauges for a shilling, sixpence and brass threepence. Any further information regarding these pieces and their use will be gratefully received.
