Money Talks - British Monarchs and History in Coins

Money Talks

British Monarchs and History in Coins

Bob Whittington

• An illustrated story of British Monarchs and history featuring over 60 images of coins
• Reveals the hidden stories behind coins and the background to designs
• The story of Great Britain from the Iron Age to the present day

Money Talks is a fast-paced history of the humble British coin, the events which at times literally shaped it and the stories reflected in its creation. It has been used to barter and to bribe, to pay a king’s ransom, been an object of pride and a symbol of power and courage. The coin has witnessed the great events in history and it speaks to us of past generations, of battles and heroic deeds and of countries and empires.

Money Talks demonstrates how monarchs down the centuries have used hard cash to fund wars, maintain their lifestyles and portray their image to prove their position or legitimatise dubious claims to the throne.

From time to time the coin has slipped out of use altogether as bartering goods was preferred to poor quality coinage but even as the modern world turns increasingly to electronic transactions, the coin retains its place at the heart of everyday life.

ISBN 978-184995-316-0 216 x 138mm, 176pp, colour throughout

60 photographs and maps softback £16.99

Money Talks can be ordered from Whittles Publishing, www.whittlespublishing.com t: 01593-731333, from any good bookshop or the usual online retailers

The Wonderful World of Paranumismatics; 300 Years of British Tokens

Talk: 2:00pm Friday 21st July 2017

“The Wonderful World of Paranumismatics; 300 Years of British Tokens”

By Mike Roberts

The presentation will include the well- known series of trade tokens in the 17th, late 18th and early 19th centuries and also describe (inter alia), refreshment tickets, co-op checks, transport tokens, imitation spade guineas, communion tokens, pit checks, works tallies and local and prize medallions. An explanation as to how these numismatic items were used will be a central feature of the presentation.

Venue: The York Coin Fair, The Grandstand, York Racecourse, Tadcaster Rd, York, North Yorkshire YO23 1EX

Quite devoid of sense

Harrogate Spring Coin Fair

Swan Hotel,

Swan Road, Harrogate, HG1 2SR 

 (car parking tickets at hotel reception)

3:00pm, Friday 17^th March 2017

 'Quite devoid of sense'?

PART II

Humphrey Sutherland and many subsequent eminent numismatists have condemned the York gold shilling as ‘quite devoid of sense’ and later than seventh-century southern shillings. New research on the inscriptions and iconography now puts the York gold shilling at the forefront of English coinage. This finding challenges the chronology of early Anglo-Saxon coinage, dating the York shilling to the time of the ship burial at Sutton Hoo around 625CE and casting new light on the history of Northumbria, particularly its balance of power. The distribution of finds evidences evangelical activity in the Conversion Period and the literacy of the inscriptions, as with sceats, distinguishes Northumbrian coinage from southern issues.

In January, speaking at the York Stamp and Coin Fair, Tony Abramson gave the first part of this lecture, disclosing that one of the two inscriptions on the York shillings reads PAULINUS EP – Paulinus, first Archbishop of York, 627-33. Uninscribed varieties are arguably earlier.

Mary Garrison of the University of York's Centre for Medieval Studies will now complete the other inscription, revealed in March 2015 by Jonathan Mann, to commence SANCTE….

Mary will also explored possible interpretations of the intriguing iconography on this coinage.

 

Lecture - 'Quite devoid of sense'

2:00pm Friday 20th January, York Coin Fair: 'Quite devoid of sense'?

Tony Abramson will show that far from being 'quite devoid of sense', as one of our most eminent numismatists thought, the York gold shilling is at the forefront of English coinage. Our new understanding of the inscriptions and iconography challenge the chronology of early Anglo-Saxon coinage, dating the York shilling to the time of the ship burial at Sutton Hoo and casting new light on the history of Northumbria, particularly its balance of power. The distribution of finds evidences evangelical activity in the Conversion Period and the literacy of the inscriptions distinguishes Northumbrian coinage from southern emissions.

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Yorkshire Numismatic Society for 2016

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Yorkshire Numismatic Society for 2016

The AGM was held at 7:30pm on Thursday, 24th November 2016

(1) Apologies for absence: Catherine Baxter, Anthony Conway, Richard Fynes, Roy Norris, Jasbir Singh, Lee Toone, Peter Watson
(2) The minutes of the previous AGM were approved. There were no matters arising, The video recording project was deferred in 2016 but will resume in 2017.
(3) The reports of the president is given below
(4) The audited accounts for the year to 30th September 2016 were approved and adopted.
(5) The officers and other council members were re-elected,
(6) There was no other business.
The meeting closed at 8:15pm.

President’s Report, 2016

The main activity in 2016 consisted of talks given at the major local coin fairs. These included:

Lee Toone’s lecture at the York Stamp and Coin Fair, York Racecourse, on Friday, 15th January 2016, entitled ‘The London Mint of Constantius and Constantine, AD 296 – 325’, followed publication by Spink of his book of the same title, co-authored by Hugh Cloke.
 
Tony Abramson spoke on ‘Where There’s Muck, There’s Brass - The Monetization of Northumbria, C6th   - 9th CE’ at the Harrogate Coin Fair, on Friday, 18th March 2016, covering his current research.
 
Gareth Williams of the British Museum addressed the topic of ‘Hoards and Wealth in Viking Yorkshire’ on the Friday, 15th July 2016, at the York Stamp and Coin Fair.

Detailed reports can be found on the Society’s social media.
On Sunday 21st February, several society members spoke at the 2016 Richard Hall Symposium again at King’s Manor, York. The theme was Lost Landscapes AD 400-1100.
Numismatic speakers include Gareth Williams of the British Museum, Andrew Woods of York Museums Trust and Tony Abramson of the University of York. The society was also represented at the Sixth International Symposium in Early Medieval Coinage at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 28-9th October 2016, where the theme was North Vs South.
The major forthcoming event is the BANS Spring Congress 2017 hosted by the Society. The venue is The Crown Hotel, Harrogate, 7-9 April 2017. Planning is well advanced. It is hoped that fund-raising activities – an auction, raffle and brochure – will cover costs.
The Society’s finances remain healthy. David Lee reported that the Society has 662 followers on Twitter, the Facebook page has 152 members and 314 likes. The flagcounter of original visits reads 15,357, and the total pageviews including repeat visitors reads 30,260.
Tony Abramson, 4th November 2016.

BANS Spring Congress 2017

Click here for more details: http://bans2017.blogspot.co.uk/