History of the Bedford Numismatic Society (1966-1986) – G.E. Dawson†

This note first appeared in the 1986 issue of the Bedford Numismatic Society Journal, the “Sovereign”. It charts the history of the society from its first meeting on 26th October 1966 through to the events that took place as part of the 20th anniversary. Three of the first members had also been members of the short-lived first Bedford Numismatic Society (1946-1948). The later events are likely typical of the story of many societies that were formed in the late 1960s, with a peak membership around decimalisation. (Contributed by Gary Oddie.)

Reuniting Sir George and Lady Chetwynd – A Tale of Two Catalogues – Gary Oddie

This note is the result of a recent chance find of a scarce early catalogue of the Chetwynd collection of tokens. The book contained several bookplates and an image of Lady Chetwynd and the catalogue compiler, Thomas Sharp, along with several hundred additional illustrations of tokens.  The locations of several other copies and appearances at auction are noted.

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.