Chris Comber
YNS salutes the death of Chris Comber, a suave gentleman with a happy
disposition. A stalwart of BANS, he was the leading authority in his
field of Tudor hammered coinage and his passing represents another great
loss to numismatics.
PS: We'll miss those wonderful waistcoats!
Yorkshire Numismatic Society
Founded in 1909 and affiliated to the British Association of Numismatic Societies since 1953.
YNS will hold a Congress at the Old Swan
YNS
110
YNS will hold a Congress at the Old Swan, in parallel to the
Harrogate Spring Fair, 15-16 March 2019, to celebrate its 110th
year. A number of speakers, including John Philpotts, Tony Abramson,
Barrie Cook, Adrian Marsden, Frances Simmons, Richard Abdy, Richard
Fynes, Rob Tye and Pam West will illustrate their chosen topic by
reference to a dozen or so readily available coins, which the
audience can then search out among the traders present at the fair.
The appeal will be broad, placing coins in their historical context
and conversely illustrating history through coinage. We will promote
the event to collectors, historians, detectorists, and local
residents with the aim of offering engaging talks spread throughout
the fair, introducing newcomers to the delights of collecting and
providing a stimulus to dealers to continue attending the fair.
The coin fair, now organised by John & Sophie Philpotts of
Silbury Coins, is now fully booked with several new exhibitors
joining the regulars.
For more information
please visit: http://www.harrogatecoinfair.co.uk/
Archives
Archives
I am currently purging the YNS archives of material. If anyone has, and is willing to part with, the following annual membership cards, it would fill gaps in the official records:
1970, 71, 78, 79
1981, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 88, 89
1990, 91
2009, 2010, 2012
Please e mail t.abramson@ntlworld.com
Obituary - Michael Metcalf
It is with great
sadness that the Society learned of the death of YNS member
Emeritus Professor David Michael Metcalf who died on 25 October
2018. Professor Metcalf was Keeper of the Heberden Coin Room in
the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford from 1963 and a Professorial Governing
Body Fellow of Wolfson from 1982 to 1998 and an Emeritus Fellow from
1998 to 2018.
He was a prolific
author and speaker in several numismatic fields including Anglo-Saxon
coinage, where his seminal Thrymsas and Sceattas in the Ashmolean
Museum Oxford (1993-4) remains a landmark publication, built on a
then unparalleled corpus of finds, in a previously largely neglected
field.
He was happy to
speculate on various aspects of coinage in the hope that discussion
would be stimulated, and better arguments would prevail. He gave
encouragement and guidance to many collectors and students of
numismatics and was a prolific correspondent, typically answering
letters by return post.
He was
characteristically mild-mannered and perceptive, handling difficult
situations, such as Elizabeth Pirie’s deeply controversial
arrangement of Northumbrian stycas, with great tact and sensitivity,
though he was quite capable of taking a robust approach.
His passing represents
a major loss to the world of numismatic and beyond.
More info at
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/nov/19/michael-metcalf-obituary?CMP=share_
More info at
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/nov/19/michael-metcalf-obituary?CMP=share_
Coinage in the Northumbrian Landscape and Economy
Coinage in the
Northumbrian Landscape and Economy, c.575–c.867
Tony
Abramson
Reviews
‘The
data is detailed and comprehensive and its interpretation has the
benefit of the author’s expert knowledge of the crucial numismatic
material. … The sheer depth and breadth of the chronological and
geographical analysis of relevant Northumbrian finds … provides a
unique perspective on the role of money in the community at that
time.’
Dr Stewart Lyon,
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London
‘Abramson’s
project offers a combination of scope and detail that is not easily
paralleled in existing literature. … As a significant and thorough
analysis of monetary production and circulation in the north of
England, [it] represents a significant contribution to knowledge.’
Dr Rory Naismith,
King’s College London
This book
presents the author’s digitization of Pirie’s substantial yet
flawed corpus of 9th-century Northumbrian ‘stycas’. This
database, enhanced by data from elsewhere, is compared by location
with the artefactual database known as VASLE (created at the
University of York, 2008) to demonstrate that the co-occurrence of
coins and portable artefacts defines monetary evolution in
Northumbria. Additionally, the author presents a new periodization
and reveals the previously disparaged gold shillings of York to have
been issued by Bishop Paulinus, a disruptive finding chronologically,
with wider consequences. Northumbria benefited increasingly, both
monetarily and fiscally, as the face value of coins fell. Other
conclusions include the idea that Northumbrian coin production was
erratic; that the Yorkshire Wolds were more highly monetized than the
surrounding lowlands, indicating a more enterprising culture; that
styca
hoards represent episcopal expropriations; and that there were
significant changes in settlement and economy in the central
lowlands. This work demonstrates that monetization reflected northern
independence, innovation and enterprise.
BAR No: B641
|
RSP: £49 /
€73.50 / US$98
|
ISBN:
9781407316536
|
Language:
English
|
229 pages,
Illustrated throughout in colour and black and white. 4 tables, 161
figures, 13 graphs, 9 maps, 23 illustrations (10 plates and 13
individual illustrations). With additional information online
(databases and datasets).
Talk: Portraits of a Lady - The Cult and Iconography of the Goddess Nana.
This paper by Richard Fynes, explores the aspects of the cult of the asiatic goddess Nana, with an emphasis on the numismatic evidence.
The Picture shows the Central Asian goddess Nana (Ardokhsho) seated on her lion mount is likely the source for this small icon from Buddhist Afghanistan. Central and North Asia, 500–1000 A.D.
Date and Time
Fri 20 July 201814:30 – 15:30
Location
The GrandstandYork Racecourse
Tadcaster Road
York
YO23 1EX
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